Hand in My Pocket (Book One)
by Eilwynn
Summary: Jessica Kent: small town girl, high school student, school newspaper reporter, waitress, friend, farmer's daughter. Seemingly a normal girl. But Jessica carries a deep secret, one that leaves her feeling alienated from the people around her. Struggling to find herself, Jessica finds her greatest reward in saving people. FemClark. Eventual crossover with Dark Knight. On pause.
1. Chapter 1

**Hand in My Pocket (Book One)**

 _I'm broke but I'm happy_

 _I'm poor but I'm kind_

 _I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah_

 _I'm high but I'm grounded_

 _I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed_

 _I'm lost but I'm hopeful baby_

 _And what it all comes down to_

 _Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine_

 _'cause I've got one hand in my pocket_

 _And the other one is giving a high five_

 _I feel drunk but I'm sober_

 _I'm young and I'm underpaid_

 _I'm tired but I'm working, yeah_

 _I care but I'm restless_

 _I'm here but I'm really gone_

 _I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby_

 _And what it all comes down to_

 _Is that everything's gonna be quite alright_

 _'cause I've got one hand in my pocket_

 _And the other one is flicking a cigarette_

 _And what it all comes down to_

 _Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet_

 _\- Hand in My Pocket,_ Alanis Morrisette, _Jagged Little Pill_

1.

She was curled up in a comfy chair in her bedroom, reading Dostoyevsky. She earmarked the pages absently as she sped through them, her eyes moving from line to line at inhuman speeds. The room around her was made for comfort - decorated in soothing blues, covered in soft rugs, with flannel bed sheets. There were white curtains over the window, photos of friends and family hung around the room, scented candles on the nightstand, and glued to the ceiling were glow-in-the-dark stars. Fantastical astronomy photographs and models hung around the room, mingled with bookcases, video game art, and posters of Florence + The Machine (her favorite band). An acoustic steel-string guitar leaned in a corner.

"Jessica Mary Kent! You're going to be late for school!" her mother called up the stairs, startling her out of her concentration. Jessica looked up, her eyes widening in surprise, and then she checked the clock. Time to go. She stood with quiet grace, her face impassive, and she gathered her book bag together before swinging it over her shoulder.

On her way out of the room, she looked into the mirror, shifting and pulling at her shirt, fixing her hair, smudging a little makeup under her left eye. Jessica wore lots of black. Long-sleeved black shirts and pants, black nail polish. She had blue eyes, a slight and slim form, and long black hair swept over one eye, hiding her face. Her expression was usually quiet, even shy, serious, and calm. Her eyes were often looking down, and she almost never showed any emotion in her face.

Jessica winced ever so slightly at her own reflection - her only tell tale sign of self dislike - and left the room, turning the light off.

The Kent home was rustic, filled with polished wood, checkered cloth, and antiques. It smelled constantly of earth, apples, and coffee. The farm outside the kitchen window was her father's pride and joy, long fields of gold and green and brown, smelling of grass and manure, passed down through the Kent family for several generations. It was organic and free range. The farm rotated through several different kinds of crops and produced cattle feed as well as carrying a grain silo and a windmill. Several different kinds of farm animals were raised on the farm, mostly in the vast brown ramshackle barn outback, for dairy products and for food. Her mother also grew a garden and an apple orchard; produce from these was sold each week at the Smallville Farmer's Market.

Just as Jessica was entering the kitchen for breakfast, her father was coming in fresh from work in the fields, sweaty and with dirt on his hands. He was a vast man, tall and broad shouldered, with a sun-hardened brown face and straw-gold hair and large rough hands. "Good afternoon, sleepyhead," he teased her, his voice deep.

"I was reading," said Jessica quietly, her eyes lowered, as she sat down to her cereal.

"I was just kidding you -"

"I know." Her father looked at her in worry as Jessica kept her eyes down. Sometimes, even though he'd raised her, Jessica baffled him - it was hard to tell what was going on in that head of hers.

"Now, don't forget, I have class tonight, so you two are on your own," Mom reminded them, handing Dad his morning cup of coffee. Mom was taking business and economics classes at the local community college. She had neat red hair and faded makeup, lines of worry around her mouth and eyes. She wore a homespun checkered shirt, a subtle floral aroma wafted around her, and earth permanently lined her fingernails from hours of bending over digging among the sunflowers and the vegetables in her garden. "Jessica, make dinner for your father so he doesn't order pizza, okay?" she added despairingly.

"Will do," said Jessica quietly. "We might have to eat a little late. I won't be home till after work." Jessica was a part-time waitress and barista at a little coffee place in town called The Beanery.

"That's right, you have your job now," said Dad thoughtfully. She'd taken out the job after overhearing her parents worrying about the farm not being able to pay the bills, though she'd never say so. "Well." He shrugged easily, smiling. "I can wait."

"So, Jessica, has anyone asked you to the homecoming dance?" Mom asked in a loud, hokey tone of voice. She and Dad shared a secret smile.

Jessica kept her eyes lowered. "No. I'm thinking about not going. You know I'm not into stuff like that."

Mom's face creased in worry. Jessica hated making her look like that. "Well, I'm sure something will come up. Don't close off all your options just yet. Honey, I really wish you would try talking to people more -"

"I do. I talk to Chloe, Lana, Emily, and the people who work for the school paper. That's all I need."

"Oh, I know. I just worry about you, that's all. I don't know when you got so closed-off, you were such a cute, smiling, energetic baby -" Mom reached out to tuck a strand of dark hair back behind her ear, and Jessica looked down.

"Mom," she said awkwardly.

Just then, a horn honked from outside. That was Lana's boyfriend Whitney, a muscular football quarterback, who picked her and her friends up in his truck every morning and drove them to school. Jessica looked up in surprise, her eyes widening.

"You'll be late!" Mom said, as Jessica grabbed her school things and ran at low speeds out the front door.

"Come on, Jessica, we don't have all day!" Emily called, as Jessica ran over and crammed herself into the tiny truck beside Chloe and Emily. (Lana always got shot-gun, on account of being "The Girlfriend.")

"Look at you, it was like your feet were on fire," said Chloe, grinning. Jessica looked politely puzzled as Emily and Lana looked down, biting back smiles.

That was, in fact, nowhere near as fast as Jessica _could_ move. From her earliest memories, she'd been able to lift things six times her body weight and run so fast that no one could see her; it was like the rest of the world was standing still. She could also take in information at lightning fast speeds while doing advanced calculations in her head. Jessica had always been taught by her parents to hide her abilities; they didn't think the world was ready to accept someone who could do the things she could.

As a child, Jessica had become best friends with her next door neighbor Lana Lang, a tall, pretty girl with tan skin and straight, shiny black hair who did horseback riding and worked for several local charities. Lana wrote poetry and took black and white photographs; she was very... artsy. Lana had in turn introduced her to Emily Dinsmore, a sweet but slightly bossy girl with wild brown curls, cats-eye glasses, and a head for science, and Jessica and Emily also became fast friends. Lana had even stopped wearing a necklace that was in remembrance of her late parents to protect Jessica, who for some reason was allergic to the green meteor rock it contained.

One day, all three girls were playing on a bridge by the local river, and Lana fell into the fast-moving water below. Before Jessica could stop her, Emily had jumped in after her. Neither girl could swim. Jessica could swim. Jessica had been forced to use her abilities to save her friends, who couldn't understand at first how she had moved so fast and been so strong. When Jessica admitted she'd always been like this, but usually hid it from others, Lana and Emily had been amazingly accepting. They'd agreed to keep her secret.

While in middle school, Jessica met Chloe Sullivan, who had short hair and a taste for classic, hipster fashion. Chloe had moved from Metropolis City to the rural Smallville with her father. Jessica had been the one assigned to show Chloe around school on her first day. Chloe was smart and funny, a budding reporter with an investigative instinct, and Chloe had quickly been let into Jessica's circle of friends. She did not, however, know about Jessica's powers.

More changes had come to Jessica throughout middle school. She and her mother had gotten a surprise when her mother had tried to pierce her ears. The piercing gun broke when it came into contact with Jessica's earlobe. That was when they'd learned Jessica had steely skin. Jessica had also gotten her first period around this time, and had discovered that when she got angry she could set things on fire with her eyes. It had taken a lot of practice to get _that_ particular piece of self control down.

At last, Jessica had asked her parents about her strange abilities, and they had realized they couldn't keep the truth from her any longer. They told her that many years ago, a great meteor shower had hit Smallville. They had been driving back home through some fields when the meteors had hit. A meteor landed in the field beside their truck; their truck flipped over and they were knocked out. When they woke up, they claimed, they had found a naked toddler Jessica standing near a tiny, metallic spaceship.

It sounded crazy, but they'd shown her the spaceship. It was still there, hidden underneath a tarp in their storm cellar.

The Kents had never been able to have kids, so they'd taken Jessica home, named her, and raised her as their own. They told everyone she was their adopted daughter - which, technically, she was.

Jessica hadn't been found with any identifying information on her - well, she'd been found with a metallic tablet, but written on it was a message in a strange geometric language they didn't understand - and she had no memories of her time before Earth. She had no idea why she was here or where she had come from. She just knew that she'd fallen to Earth in a tiny spaceship, alongside some strange green meteor rock that made her sick every time she went near it. This was a point of great frustration for her. She wished she knew more about her origins. Jessica had never really felt like she fit in on Earth, and she attributed this to her being an alien. She and Lana, whose parents died in the meteor shower, had had many conversations about being an orphan.

Jessica entered high school. She joined Chloe's school paper, The Torch, and got invited to a lot of parties because Lana had become a cheerleader and started dating senior star quarterback Whitney Fordman. She met people mostly through Emily, who had the kind of social calendar that required scheduling meetings down to the exact minute.

As for Jessica, she read her books and played her video games; she listened to her music and played her guitar; she stargazed and daydreamed; she worked at The Beanery and helped her parents with the farm. Jessica was still waiting for her "thing" to come to her. The older she got, the more alienated she felt. She was starting to wonder if she'd _ever_ find her "thing", or if her life would just be one long drudgery of pretending to be normal.

Listening to her friends chatter beside her - something about Whitney not finishing his English paper till two AM the night before it was due - Jessica stared absently out the window at the passing yellow cornfields and let herself be led away toward town and Smallville High.

* * *

Smallville, Kansas was a tiny, tiny place. On Main Street, there was one old movie theater which had two screens, along with a total of three restaurants and five other small businesses. There was only one high school, unenthusiastically named Smallville High, a great concrete block with a picture of a crow mascot posted out in front. The sign was sun-faded and there was graffiti written all across it, because that was what delinquents in Smallville did - they graffitied signs and mail boxes.

It was as Jessica was getting her things from her locker for the day that it happened. Someone suddenly went to slam the locker door shut on her hand, and Jessica had to move fast, a little faster than was safe to show, to get her hand out of the doorway in time.

Jessica whirled around and Felice Chandler was standing there. Felice Chandler had perfumed blonde hair, wore tacky pink Prada, and was the head of the drama club. She always had a posse of girls behind her, and had taken to picking on girls who were lower than her in the high school hierarchy. Jessica happened to be one of those girls.

"Watch where you're going, freak," said Felice, and the girls behind her giggled. They did that a lot. It was very annoying. "So are you going to the homecoming dance, freak? Aww, what's wrong? No one wants to ask the little freak to the dance? No one likes the whole goth look routine?" Said in a baby voice. More giggling.

Jessica just stood there, her jaw tight, staring straight ahead of herself and waiting for it to be over.

At last, Felice brushed past her. "Look, just stop getting better grades than me, freak. Stop trying to be cool."

"I didn't know getting good grades _was_ cool, Chandler, that's news to me," said Whitney Fordman dryly, walking up with his arm around Lana. Trust Whitney to defend you and mock you in the same breath.

"Whitney," said Felice, her voice airy and happy, her eyes doing the 'desperate, sad puppy dog' look.

"Look, just fuck off," said Whitney. "And stop picking on my girlfriend's best friend."

"Thanks. You didn't have to do that," said Jessica, looking down, as they approached her.

"No problem. No one likes Chandler, Kent. You don't have to listen to anything she says," said Whitney.

"Are you okay?" Lana asked in concern. Once Jessica nodded, Lana went off. "I can't _believe_ she would do something like that! How low do you have to get -!?" Lana ranted indignantly all the way to homeroom.

Jessica sped through her classes. With her enhanced intellectual abilities, everything was easy for her. The only thing she had to worry about was doing _too_ well. Jessica had learned to shy away from sports, math, and science at a young age. She was preternaturally good at all of them, and if she did too well at any of them she could reveal her abilities. That meant no lots of stuff: no basketball team, no robotics club, no nothing. Her parents feared she would do _too_ well. They dreaded the day that men in white coats drove up and took their daughter away from them.

Jessica spent some time hanging out at The Torch's editorial room after school. "Editorial room" was a grand name. A closet stuffed with two computer desks had been allotted to them. Plastered across one wall of this room was a gigantic collection of newspaper articles and magazine clippings, all about strange things happening around Smallville and the Smallville meteor shower - Chloe was convinced the meteor rock included heavy doses of radiation and could cause mutations. She called this wall her Wall of Weird, and it was there as some weird kind of inspiration, inviting her reporters to find hidden connections in things no one would have thought to look for.

Jessica turned in her latest Torch article and then stood talking with Chloe, leaning against her computer desk.

"So of course, Lana's going to the homecoming dance with Whitney. Pete Ross asked me -"

"I know him, he's a good guy," said Jessica. "His parents are friends with mine."

"Yeah. But get this. Emily's going with _Dustin_." Chloe grinned at the ridiculousness of it.

"Dustin, as in... 'that shit-head jock who's always picking on that poor overweight girl Jodi' Dustin?" Jessica asked slowly.

"Yeah. Him."

Jessica stared. "But he's an asshole."

"You don't have to tell me. Emily's convinced she can 'tame the wild beast within'," said Chloe, who clearly found the whole thing highly amusing.

"There's no wild beast within Dustin. Maybe a deformed gargoyle." Jessica made a face as she thought about. Chloe laughed.

Just then, Justin Gaines, the comics artist for The Torch, a skinny but earnest boy with a friendly face and artfully gelled brown hair, came up and stood before her, twisting his hands nervously. "Hey, uh, Jessica?" he said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jessica frowned slightly, puzzled. "Sure." She paused, waiting. Justin was blushing furiously and didn't look like he knew what to say. Jessica's eyebrows creased in confusion.

At last, Chloe sighed and stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go pee," she announced, waving her arms expansively. "You can be _so_ dense sometimes," Chloe muttered in Jessica's ear as she passed. Then she shut the door behind her and Justin and Jessica were alone.

"Do - doyouwannagotothedancewithme?" Justin blurted out all at once, his voice cracking at the end. His face was still very red, and - _Oh._

Jessica realized all at once what was going on and she gaped wordlessly.

"Well - uh - sure," she said at last in surprise, because really, it wasn't like she was going out with anyone else and wasn't that what you were supposed to say in situations like this?

Justin beamed in triumph. "Great! Great - Umm. I promise you won't regret it!" he said, and then babbling awkwardly, he left the room. Jessica stared after him.

It was stupid, but she felt just a little bit better for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Jessica - can you take table two?" Zoe Garfield asked, walking by the coffee counter of The Beanery in her apron, her dirty blonde ponytail tied high. (The restaurant was composed of a room full of armchairs, couches, and pillows set around little tables, a piano, and a counter, by the door, where the coffee was made.) Zoe went to the local community college, and had a warm, teasing sense of humor. She was Jessica's coworker.

"Sure, no problem," said Jessica smoothly.

Zoe grinned. "As always, you're a life saver."

Jessica's expression remained unchanging and calm. She picked up her hazelnut latte and her cappuccino and put them on their tray to carry over to table seven. She dropped off their drinks and went over to table two.

Jessica really shouldn't have made a good waitress - she wasn't remotely peppy, cheerful, _or_ chatty. But somehow, she made a good impression on customers anyway. She always managed to give people their drinks discreetly, without remotely interrupting their conversation, she caught on fast and could remember drinks better than anyone (including Zoe, who had been doing it longer), she was good at coming up with new ideas for drawing in customers, and she could handle even the most complex orders or the busiest nights with calmness and ease. People described feeling comfortable around her - safe, in a strange way.

Jessica weaved through the tables, taking orders and handing out drinks. She mixed countless cups of coffee over by the counter, and she got through the day.

* * *

Jessica was walking home in the early evening, in the twilight. She had two bags of groceries in her hands, ready to make dinner for her father - tonight she was thinking chicken pot pie. After dinner, she would finally get to start her homework. (Farm chores were only on weekends - father's orders. "You need to focus on school, and we all know with your speed and strength you can do more in two hours than most people could do in a week.")

After leaving town, she cut across through the fields and into the woods, crossing over the bridge by the local river. This was her favorite part of Smallville, the place close to the Indian reservation - there were vast, dark green forests and twisting, bright blue streams and rivers. It was quiet but for the twittering of songbirds - it was peaceful.

As she was crossing the bridge, staying to the bike lane, Jessica heard a screech of tires and she looked around.

Some idiot was driving too fast down the road in some fancy sports car. He was obviously not from around Smallville. He was looking at his cell phone as he drove. He looked up, saw a piece of debris on the road, swerved to avoid it, and swerved right into Jessica. She just saw a shot of his panicked face before she was rammed through the bridge's railing and into the water below. Of course, with her steely skin, she wasn't hurt. She felt the impact through the murky gloom of the river as the man's car went in after her.

Knowing the man was going to die if he didn't get above water soon, Jessica swam through the water over to his car. She peeled the roof of the car back like the lid of a tin can, ripped his seat belt apart, picked him up, and swam him upward until they hit the surface of the river. She gasped as they made it above water, and then swam with him against the current over to the shore. Soaking wet, she dragged him onto the embankment.

She put an ear up to his mouth - he was unconscious, and he wasn't breathing. She opened his mouth and then was torn for a moment. It felt weird, connecting her mouth to some strange man's. Then she scolded herself for her idiocy. _For fuck's sake, Jessica, he's dying!_

She brushed her lips against his, breathed into his mouth, and then pumped his chest. It wasn't working. It was because she didn't know much pressure to apply - how much would hurt him? Jessica had never been good with delicate things - it was why she couldn't sew, and why her guitar was steel string! She just didn't have that much control. At last, she dared to _push_ just that little bit harder, and his eyes flew open. He began coughing up water onto the muddy embankment.

Jessica sat back on her heels in relief.

He looked up hazily and saw her - he was young, slim, and sporty, in his twenties, the kind of handsome that comes naturally to the sheltered and affluent, wearing expensive clothes and black leather driving gloves, bald - and his blue eyes widened. To be saved was one thing, Lex thought privately to himself. To be saved by a beautiful and soaking wet raven haired girl was quite another. She gave him an enigmatic look, and then her eyes lowered meekly. There was something in those eyes - something hidden.

"You saved me," he said, and then, "... Didn't I hit you?"

"I jumped out of the way in time," said the girl softly, still looking downward.

"And then you jumped in after me? That's very brave."

The girl blinked at him innocently. "You were dying," she said, as if this were the only explanation she needed. In that moment, she seemed charmingly naive.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I'm fifteen. I go to the local high school. I was just walking back home to my farm after picking up some groceries for dinner."

"So I ruined your meal. I'll have to make it up to you sometime."

"No apology is necessary." The girl stood smoothly. "I should call an ambulance. By the way," she added, as an afterthought. "Debris is common in Smallville. Most residents drive slowly and with their eyes _on_ the road."

Lex smiled wryly. "I'm suitably chastised," he said.

The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Yes. Well." She turned away to make the phone call.

"I should at least know the name of the girl who saved my life," he said.

The girl paused, her back to him. "My name is Jessica Kent," she said. "I've lived here for most of my life. And you are? You're from Metropolis City."

"How do you know that?"

"Just a guess. You're from _some_ city." Her voice was contemptuous and distrustful. Coming from another person, it might have been annoying. As it was, he was just amused. She didn't quite pull off being cruel and distant, though she was trying pretty hard.

"Lex Luthor," he said, and saw an angle of her face transform in surprise. She really was lovely, delicately featured and graceful - the word _exquisite_ came to mind. "I was sent here by my father to take over the local Luthor Corp plant. I moved in to the mansion earlier today."

She said nothing about his fame, and for that he was grateful. "Stay there, Mr Luthor," she said.

"Lex," he interjected.

She paused. "... Lex," she allowed. "I'll make the call."

* * *

The minute Jonathan Kent heard what had happened, he drove over to meet his daughter, the old truck's engine groaning complaints against his excessive speed. He skidded to a halt beside the riverbank. By this time, police and medics were swarming the scene. Jessica's Dad ran over to her and hugged her.

"Jessica," he said, "are you okay?"

Jessica nodded, looking downward. "I'm fine, Dad," she said softly.

Jonathan whirled to the nearest policeman. "Who was the maniac who was driving that car and hurt my little girl?!"

"That would be me, and I'm sorry for what happened." Lex came over and held out his hand. "Lex Luthor."

Jonathan's face transformed into a very ugly look. He glared at the offending hand for a moment. "Jonathan Kent," he grunted at last, and then turned to his daughter. "Honey - let's get out of here."

"Thank you for saving my life, Jessica," said Lex to Jessica as she made to leave.

"I'm sure you would have done the same thing," said Jessica quietly, not really accepting the praise.

"Mr Kent, your daughter saved my life. If there's any way I can repay you -" Lex began as Jonathan walked past him.

Jonathan stopped and looked Lex dead in the face. "Repay me by driving slower," he said brusquely, and the Kents left to head to Jonathan's truck.

Lex looked over at the ruins of the car as it was pulled out of the river by machinery. The roof was completely torn off, and there was a wide dent in the front fender, as though the fender had been hit by some metallic force. Something incredible had just happened to him, all triggered by that girl - and something about it just didn't add up.


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Jessica got a phone call that night and was talked into a three-way conversation with Lana and Emily. She went out into the loft to take the call. Years ago, her father had built a loft up above the barn floor, for her to retreat to when she wanted privacy or quiet - which she wanted a lot. He jokingly called it her Fortress of Solitude. It was a humble place, smelling heavily of farm animals, consisting of a sofa, a coffee table, and a bunch of colored sheets and blankets hung in various arrays, held together by wooden planks. Her telescope was up there by the back window, among other things, so she could get a closer look at the stars.

Not that her Fortress of Solitude was very solitary tonight.

"You _saved a billionaire's life_?!" Emily screeched into the phone.

"Emily's a little excited," said Lana in amusement.

"How many people can say that?! That they _saved a billionaire's life_?! Was he hot?"

"Emily!" Jessica cried, embarrassed.

"Well, I'm just saying. It would be a plus. He's supposed to be some kind of rich playboy. He gets in the news a lot for drunken shenanigans and car wrecks and stuff like that."

"Did you just say 'shenanigans'?" Jessica asked disbelievingly.

"Also, the rumors are all true," said Lana. "When I was a kid, I went up to Metropolis once for a horseback riding competition. My aunt has sold real estate to Lex's father Lionel Luthor, so Lionel invited us to dinner at his mansion. I went to check out the indoor pool and found Lex skinny dipping with some model. It was pretty humiliating for both parties."

Jessica was listening curiously.

"... So?" Emily asked at last.

"So what?" Jessica said, confused.

"So, _was he hot_?!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake, _Emily,"_ said Jessica in exasperation. Lana was laughing. "Yes. Okay, there. Are you happy?"

"Did you have to give him mouth to mouth?" Emily asked eagerly.

"... I refuse to answer that," Jessica said.

"Oh my God, you _did! You lucky little shit!"_ Emily was basically incoherent for the rest of the conversation.

"So what happened? Did you have to use your powers?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Yes, but it was only after he was unconscious. I had to peel the car apart to get at him and bring him up for air. Also, the car hit me and I should have died, but obviously I didn't. He was unconscious through all of it, but I don't know. He might suspect something." This made even the implacable Jessica a little nervous.

"I'm sure it's fine," Lana reassured her. "Just focus on the positive - you saved a man's life! I'm so proud of you! Oh, Whitney's just come out onto the porch and he wants to say something."

"Didn't know you had it in you, Kent!" Whitney shouted into the phone. "Great job!"

Jessica held back a smile. "Thanks, Whitney."

As soon as Lana and Emily hung up, Chloe was calling. "I _have_ to get you for an interview with The Torch!"

Jessica's eyes widened. "It's really that big of a deal?"

"What, are you kidding me?! This is incredible! My friend saved somebody's _life_!"

Nothing ever happened in Smallville. Like, ever.

* * *

Jessica came home after work the next day and found a pure white Andalusian horse tied up to the house outside. The scene was picture perfect - a square yellow house with a wide front porch, laced with sunflowers and hanging pots and trellises, a white horse tied up outside.

Jessica came up to the horse and petted his nose; he pawed the ground and tossed his head a little. "Hello," she whispered, "who do you belong to?"

She walked into the kitchen and said, "Hey, Mom, whose horse?"

"Yours," said her mother. "It's a gift from Lex Luthor." She handed Jessica an envelope. Her name was hand written on the front. She opened it up to find a hand signed, personally monogrammed purple card.

 _Dear Jessica,_

 _Sorry about your dinner. Hope this helps make up for it._

 _Forever in your debt,_

 _The Maniac in the Porsche_

"He ruined my dinner so his next logical step was _let's buy her a horse_?" Jessica asked disbelievingly, her voice unusually loud. Mom was staring. "Well, it's not like I'm complaining or anything," Jessica added. "It's just - _wow_."

"You're not keeping it," said her father bluntly, coming into the room after her mother. Mom winced and looked down.

The excitement faded out of Jessica, to be replaced by a stone cold statue. "... Please explain your reasoning," she said at last, stiffly.

"He's - Jessica, men don't just send teenage girls fancy gifts with pure intentions!" said Dad indignantly, waving a hand.

"... That is not a sufficient reason. I assume your real reason is better." Jessica was still soft, cold, and precise.

"Jessica..." Her father looked pained. "You don't know the Luthors like I do."

"And how," asked Jessica in monotone, "do you _know_ them?"

Her parents exchanged looks. "Okay," said her Dad, "so, we had just found you and were driving home with you. Lionel Luthor runs out into the middle of the road - he had come to Smallville on a business trip with his son and was there for the meteor shower. We found Lex in a field, physically crippled from one of the blasts. I got him to the nearest hospital and saved his life.

"Lionel Luthor said that in exchange, he would do me a favor. So I asked him to forge some adoption papers for you." Dad shrugged. "The police were looking into it, what choice did I have? But Lionel used that - he held it over my head and forced me to make sure all of his business ventures in Smallville were successful, because I have so much say in town and my opinion's so respected. Every time I'd threaten to back down, he'd threaten in turn to reveal your adoption as a forgery and have you taken away.

"That's the kind of people the Luthors are, sweetheart. Do you remember Mr Guy? He used to send us pumpkins every Halloween? Lionel Luthor promised to cut him in on a deal. He sent him flashy gifts, a lot like this one - some nice cars, some new farm equipment, a few pretty things for his wife. Then once Mr Guy had sold him his land, Lionel Luthor turned his back on him and had him evicted from his own former property.

"That's completely ignoring all the shit their factory here spews out on a daily basis, destroying our beautiful land.

"The minute you buy into that, all that glamor and power, it's all over for you," her father warned her, pointing a finger at her. " _I'm_ not letting that happen."

"... That's why you gave him that look when he told you his name," said Jessica in realization, her face twisted as he relayed his story. "But, Dad. How do we know Lex is like his father? We don't, do we? He's just the kid whose life you saved. I mean, I'm not saying he's a saint, or anything. I'm just saying we shouldn't automatically dismiss him as evil. He's maybe a little spoiled, but from all I've seen so far his heart seems to be in the right place."

"Well, he hit you with a car upon your first meeting. So far I'm not thrilled. But even assuming Lex is a good person," Jonathan admitted, and Jessica could tell it was a big admittance, a huge 'if', "his father's still the one in the driver's seat. His father's the one all the money comes from. I can't willfully condone putting my daughter into his debt in any way."

"... I understand," said Jessica softly. "I'll return the horse. Personally, so he doesn't think I'm just being rude."

Her father smiled and put a hand on her cheek. "Now there's the little girl I raised." Jessica put her cheek into his hand and smiled.

* * *

She saddled the horse and rode him over to the mansion to return him. His gait and stride were easy and graceful. She almost regretted having to give him up. She tied the horse up to the gates outside the mansion.

She gazed through the bars, her eyes widening.

'Mansion' didn't even do it justice. Vast, meticulously manicured gardens all led up to a medieval stone castle. The property had a fountain. A goddamn _fountain._ Greenhouses.

It looked, in short, like the property of someone who could casually give away an expensive Andalusian horse.

A little intimidated, Jessica clicked the buzzer - no answer. She glanced around to make sure there were no cameras. Then she pushed a little strength into her feet and jumped up and over the fencing. Simple.

She made it through the gardens and up to the front door, after a few minutes of being lost. She rang the doorbell, but no one answered. At last, she opened the front door tentatively, looking around at the grand wood-paneled entrance hall...

"Hey! What are you doing here?" A blonde teenage girl in a short black skirt with lots of dark eye makeup was standing there, hands on her hips.

"Uh." Okay, not what she'd expected. "I'm here to see Lex Luthor," she said, still caught off guard.

"Well, I'm sure he's far too busy to see you," said the girl rudely.

"Look, could you just tell him -? Wait. You can't be the maid. You're too young. Where's your Mom?"

Just then, a plump brunette woman bustled up behind them. "Amy! What are you doing, greeting guests? That's not your place!" She looked around with a warmer smile. "Yes?"

"You must be the maid, Mrs?"

"Palmer," said the woman kindly. "Mrs Palmer."

"Erm, right. Mrs Palmer. Well, I have something to return to Mr Luthor. Is he - is he around?" she asked tentatively. "He gave me something and I'd like to return it to him."

"Gave you -?" Amy's eyes widened. "You're the girl who saved him." Her face twisted in helpless rage.

"Uh, do you have a problem with your Mom's boss? You look pretty unhappy that he's alive," Jessica couldn't help but point out.

"My Mom's boss! _You_ \- you don't _deserve_ him!" she spat, pointing a finger into Jessica's chest.

Jessica grew very, very still. "Don't. Touch me."

"Or what -?" Amy Palmer asked acerbically.

"Amy! Get out of here!" Mrs Palmer looked highly embarrassed. "Mr Luthor just gave this girl a highly expensive reward for his life and I believe she'd like to talk to him about it. Just - go away."

Amy turned on her heel and flounced away.

"I'm sorry," said Mrs Palmer. "She's just a silly teenage girl with a crush on an older man -"

"I am also a teenage girl," Jessica pointed out stiffly.

"Yes - well - anyway, come right this way. I'm sure he'd be glad to meet with you. He's in his office right now -" She was led up a purple carpeted staircase, underneath a chandelier, and past some magnificently decorated rooms, before stopping outside a pair of stained glass wooden doors. Mrs Palmer paused and poked her head in. "Mr Luthor? There's a -"

Mrs Palmer turned around. "What's your name?" she whispered.

Jessica smiled. "Jessica Kent."

"There's a Miss Jessica Kent here to see you?" A voice responded, and Mrs Palmer smiled and ushered Jessica into the office.

Lex's decorating style was completely different from his father's, all silver and black leather chrome. There were bookcases, a pool table, and a bottle of scotch with some crystal tumblers sitting off to the side. The room smelled strongly of scotch and cologne. Lex was seated behind a vast computer desk, wearing a sleek black turtleneck that wouldn't have looked out of place at a formal dinner and probably cost more than her entire outfit.

"Jessica," he said, standing with a smile. "I - didn't expect to see you this soon."

"Yes, well..." Jessica turned around to find Mrs Palmer had left. "Er, well. See, the thing is. It's about the horse. It's a beautiful gift! But I can't keep it. It would be wrong, to accept a reward for saving someone's life." She'd rehearsed this reason on the way here, and thought it came out pretty good.

But Lex smirked wryly. "Your father doesn't like me, does he?"

"He's - my father's - Look, my father's a very... different, man from yours. He's all 'environmental, small business, let's all be friends and hug each other.' He can be pretty stubborn. And he's not... exactly crazy... about your family." She'd thought about telling Lex about the blackmail, but decided that could backfire in rather spectacular fashion. She just didn't know him well enough.

"You mean he doesn't like my father," Lex guessed flatly.

"Something like that," Jessica admitted, looking away. "It's - look, it's a beautiful gift, but I can't keep it. For lots of reasons."

Lex examined her for a moment. "Why don't you ever look at people when they talk to you?" he asked out of the blue.

Jessica looked up, her eyes widening. Her eyes were lovely, Lex reflected, she hid them too often. "Well - I don't know." She looked away again, hiding her face behind her long hair. Lex resisted the urge to reach out and brush it back so he could see her again.

"You should try wearing your hair up occasionally," he said instead, his tone purposefully light. "I think it would look nice."

Jessica remembered her father's indignation about flirting, and she blushed and stared pointedly at the floor. "Yes. Well."

Lex took her in for a moment, and then he smiled. "I feel so different around you," he marveled. Jessica looked up tentatively. "I mean, it's just - you saved me. You know? After I was knocked out - during the accident - I had this. I don't know what it was. Hallucination, vision? I was flying over Smallville. And for the first time, I didn't see a dead end. I saw a new beginning. And then I woke up, and... there you were. Thanks to you, I have a second chance."

"And so that's why you feel... different... around me?" Jessica asked tentatively.

"Maybe. You're just... you're not like most of the other people I know. It's a good thing!" he added quickly. "I _hate_ most of the other people I know." He smiled, and for the first time, she smiled a little back. "I'd like for us to be friends."

"Well, I'd love to be friends and I'm flattered," she said, and during his elation, for a moment, her eyes were distinctly playful. "But I still have to return the gift."

"If you insist."

"Thank you," she said. Then, "By the way, this is an amazing place."

"Sure, it is. If you're dead and in the market for something to _haunt."_

She gave him an exasperated look. "Lex, you live in a _mansion._ You could at least act a _little_ appreciative."

Lex laughed despite himself. "There are better mansions," he said. "Trust me. But this place - I don't even know. My Dad calls it the Luthor Ancestral Home. He had it shipped over from Scotland stone by stone."

"I remember. The trucks rolled through town for weeks, but no one ever moved in," Jessica noted curiously.

"Oh, my father had no intention of living here. I doubt he's ever stepped through the front door."

"Then why'd he ship it over?"

"Because he could."

Jessica's lips thinned significantly. "... I see," she said at last.

"I should take a picture of your face and send it to my father. I think it could make even him feel at least a little disappointed in himself."

Jessica smiled in amusement. Then, of all things, she looked away again, and left him wanting more. "Well, if that's all," she said, turning away, "I should lea -"

"What do you like to do for fun?" he asked before he could stop himself. She turned to look at him in surprise. "Well, I mean, geez -" He waved to the mansion at large. "I have the largest movie collection in Kansas, the largest comic book collection in Kansas -" Jessica was laughing. "We're supposed to be friends! _What do you want to do_?! I've never been friends with a girl before. This is new territory for me."

Jessica was disbelieving. "You've _never_ had a girl friend?"

"I've had a _girlfriend_ ," said Lex.

"But - just a friend who happens to be female -?"

"Never," Lex swore solemnly. Then he smiled. "So I have a lot to learn. What do you want to do?" Lex hadn't tried to be someone's friend in a long time, and it left him feeling kind of excited.

Jessica smiled mischievously. "I bet I can name one thing you don't have."

A challenge, then? "Try me."

"A catadioptric Maksutov telescope."

He paused. "... My God," he said in an awed kind of disbelief. "You did it."

Jessica laughed. "I'm just teasing you. I was trying to name something really obscure. I'm happy with my telescope at home. My Dad got it from his Dad, so it has sentimental value. Lucky for you, I also play the guitar, read philosophy, and play video games."

Lex raised an eyebrow. "You play video games...? I have an advanced gaming console system." He waved a hand. "Step right this way."

They ended up playing for close to two hours. They competed against each other madly on the leather couch in front of the wide screen TV, and it was actually... _fun._ Just fun. For the hell of it. And Jessica was actually a really good player.

At last, Jessica checked the time and stood, swearing. "Shit -! I'm supposed to meet Lana!"

"Lana?" Lex raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"A friend of mine. Look, I'm sorry - This has been great, but -" She was already grabbing her sweater and heading toward the door.

"Wait!" He ran over to walk alongside her. "I'll walk you out. When can I see you again?" He sounded desperate, he decided, but Jessica didn't seem to notice.

"Well, I have a job waitressing at The Beanery. My next shift's Tuesday at 4. Come by then, okay?" Everything about her was calm and sweet, right down to her smile. Then she'd turned around, and left through the front door, patting the horse on the way out.

Lex stared after her as she walked out, still trying to puzzle out how much... _better,_ he suddenly felt.

* * *

Lana and Jessica had a ritual. On one night every month, they would go to the local graveyard, where Lana's parents were buried.

Jessica had once apologized for causing the meteor shower that led to Lana's parents' deaths, but Lana had waved her off. "You were too young to control what was going on," she'd said. "If anything, it's the fault of whoever sent you here." So neither girl felt weird about Jessica "meeting" Lana's parents.

There in the graveyard, after setting down their hand-picked wildflowers, in front of the stone graves covered in ivy, they would sit and talk - about anything, or about nothing at all. Lana said it was nice, the feeling that her parents were watching over her. Jessica had wondered privately a couple of times what that felt like.

"Lex Luthor sent me a thank you gift for saving his life," Jessica said on this particular night.

Lana's eyes widened. "Really? And did you - did you accept it?" This last part was tentative.

"Nah." Jessica told Lana her father's story. "What could I do? I said I'd give it back. The sad part is, I think Lex was really trying. We had a conversation when I took it back, and just the way I heard him talk - I don't know. I don't feel like he's ever had a chance at a normal life. He's spoiled, he doesn't have friends, and he doesn't like most of the people he knows.

"It just... it made me glad, in a way, for everything I have."


	3. Chapter 3

3.

Jessica didn't have any work the next day, so after school she decided to stay around in town and help Chloe out with the school paper. Chloe had a particular story which had caught her eye and she wanted to follow the trail. Jessica went along for the ride.

When they walked up to the pharmacy on main street, there were crowds out in front of it. They pushed their way to the front of the crowd and saw yellow caution tape sectioning off the pharmacy. An unconscious man on a stretcher was being loaded away into an ambulance.

"What's going on?" Jessica asked, confused.

"Men around Smallville keep turning up injured from some sort of electrical attack," said Chloe. "That's the third one this week. They're all young men, and they're all former jocks. No one knows who's behind the attacks. The only connection I can see between the victims is that they all played football at Smallville High."

"Maybe someone they picked on in school is coming back for revenge," said Jessica.

Chloe looked thoughtful. "Actually, that's a valid theory," she said. "The only thing anyone could find wrong with jocks is their place in the high school hierarchy, and how entitled everyone thinks they are to everything."

Jessica was scanning the crowds. "Who's that?" she asked suddenly, pointing, as someone caught her eye. "I don't know him, but Smallville's small enough that I know everyone in town, and he looks young enough to go to our high school." He was a thin, pale teenage boy with straw colored hair. He was watching the ambulance quietly.

"I don't know, I've never seen him before," admitted Chloe. "Let's check him out." She lifted up the camera in her hand and clicked.

* * *

They went to the high school library and looked through old high school yearbooks. On Chloe's insistence, the first yearbooks they looked through were for the years the electric shock victims were in high school - they'd all played together. Sure enough, they found the boy. He'd been a freshman when they were seniors. His name was Jeremy Creek, and he looked exactly the same in his yearbook photo of twelve years ago as he did in Chloe's photograph of him taken that day. He hadn't aged at all.

Jessica's first idea was to look him up and see if he'd had any kids - perhaps familial resemblance? So they looked up Jeremy Creek online, and found a news article about him from twelve years ago. Jeremy Creek had been chosen as that year's Scarecrow.

"It's a ritual," Jessica explained to Chloe. "I didn't have to worry about it, because I'm a girl and it only involves boys. But every year before the homecoming game, the football players select a freshman, take him out to Reilly Field, strip him down to his boxers, paint an S on his chest, and then hang him up like a scarecrow. They leave him there all night. It's been happening in Smallville since before we were born, but everyone always looks the other way because high school football is so worshipped in Smallville."

"It sounds like years of therapy waiting to happen," said Chloe, her face twisted. "So this boy was hanging out in Reilly Field that day in October twelve years ago. But wait, wasn't that the date of...?"

Their eyes widened and they looked at each other.

"The meteor shower," they said together.

Sure enough, as they read the article further, they found Jeremy Creek had been found unconscious in a field less than twenty yards from a meteor strike. He suffered massive electrolyte imbalance, which was why he hadn't aged. But the thing was, Jeremy Creek had been sent to Kansas State Infirmary in a coma.

A coma he had apparently awakened from, because next, they checked with Kansas State Infirmary and discovered that there had been a huge electrical storm around the hospital a few days ago. The infirmary's generator had temporarily gone out. When they'd turned it back on, Jeremy was gone. He still hadn't been found.

"So he came here, hoping to gain revenge on the jocks who ruined his life..." Chloe's eyes had widened. "He's a meteor freak; a mutant. The electricity must have charged him up, and now he can use it to attack people."

"But what are we going to do with this information?" Jessica asked, leaning against the computer desk. "We don't know where Jeremy is, besides 'somewhere in Smallville'. And we have no proof that Jeremy's the one behind the attacks."

"We do have his photograph, though," said Chloe, "proof that we saw him in Smallville today."

"As long as we don't talk about our meteor infected theory, it should sound pretty credible," said Jessica, catching on. "We've seen Jeremy back in town. It would only make sense that he'd want revenge."

So they made the call to the local police. Chloe sent them her photograph via email, and they warned the police that all remaining remaining local Smallville High alumni from Jeremy's time should be placed in protective custody.

* * *

Jessica went to the homecoming football game that night with Chloe and Emily. (Lana was cheerleading and Whitney was of course quarterbacking.) They sat in the uncomfortable metal stands, watching the bright stadium lights shine down on the vast green field, and ate concession snacks. Jessica explained what was going on to Chloe and Emily - she'd been watching football with her Dad for years - while Emily texted a million people a minute and Chloe complained loudly about how worshipped people who threw around a pigskin were. Jessica's parents sat with Emily's Dad, Chloe's father, and Lana's aunt in another part of the stadium.

After the game, everyone drove home to prepare for the dance. Jessica's Mom helped her get dressed in her bedroom. Jessica's dress was secondhand. Still, she thought she looked rather nice in it as she stood there looking at herself in the mirror. Mom had helped her pick it out. It was just a short little thing, a royal blue color that matched her eyes. The skirt was A-line, the waist was tucked in, and the top was loose and flowy with a boat neck line. Her Mom helped her wash and curl her black hair and put a ribbon through it, tying it back from her face. The makeup came on last.

"You'd look best in vivid colors," said her Mom.

"But I don't _want_ to look best in vivid colors," Jessica said plaintively. "Why do I have to wear my hair back? Can't I just wear it down like I always do?"

"It looks good this way," said Mom, laughing. "Sorry, kiddo, we don't get to choose how we look. You look best shown off."

"... Lex told me I'd look better with my hair back, too," Jessica muttered.

Mom paused and then smiled. "See?" she said. Then she helped her put on her makeup. Burgundy lip gloss, English Rose blush, Smoke eyeliner, and Jasmine eye shadow. Finally, she chose the sparkliest necklace she could find in her jewelry box and hung it around Jessica's neck.

At last, her Mom kissed her cheek. They smiled at each other in the mirror. "You look great," she said.

Her Dad had eyes only for her as she came down the stairs. "Oh, honey, you look beautiful," he said. Jessica smiled slightly, a little shy. She wasn't used to being so... girly.

She put on a snow white sweater against the cold. Mom took some pictures of her in her homecoming dress. Then Jessica went out to get in her Dad's old truck and drive over to Justin's place.

"I don't like that I won't get to meet this Justin boy," said Dad suspiciously. "I won't be there to give him the talk about my shotgun and what'll happen if he messes with my little girl."

Jessica privately thought that that was _why_ her father wasn't meeting her date, but she didn't say that out loud. She drove into town and parked in front of Justin's house. Justin ran out in a black tux, jumped in the truck, and said, "Run, before Mom catches us with her camera!"

Jessica's eyes widened. She gunned it, and they drove away just as Justin's parents sprinted out of the house after him. Justin was laughing. Jessica smiled a little despite herself.

"You look beautiful," Justin added, smiling and flushing endearingly.

"Thanks," said Jessica, smiling slightly. "You look good, too." He did. He had messy brown hair and a friendly face, and he cleaned up nice.

"I'm so glad we did this," Justin enthused. "Tonight is going to be so much fun." Jessica gave no response. "... You're not regretting it, are you?" he asked, wincing.

"No!" said Jessica quickly, her eyes widening slightly. "I just - I'm always like this. It doesn't mean I'm not having a good time," she explained awkwardly. "I'm just..." _An alien._ "Quiet," she said.

"Oh. Well, okay. I can appreciate quiet." Justin smiled.

They parked outside the Smallville High auditorium, and Justin hurriedly pushed something into her hands. "I made you something," he said nervously, ducking his head. Jessica looked down at the piece of paper, and her eyes widened.

A detailed hand drawing of a beautiful dark-haired girl was staring back at her. Her straight black hair fell over one eye; she had delicate features and wrists. The girl had her chin in a hand, gazing dreamily out the window; the night sky sparkled above her. "You told me once you were into astronomy," said Justin in embarrassment, "while we were working on The Torch together. So I just thought -"

It was meant to be a portrait. "Thank you," said Jessica softly, touched. "It's lovely."

"I always - you know, I always noticed you," said Justin. "I've, I've been wanting to ask you out for a while."

"I can't believe I never noticed," said Jessica. Then she smiled. "But I've noticed now," she said.

They met up with Chloe and Pete just inside the auditorium, which was decorated beautifully with fairy lights. Lana and Whitney, and Emily and Dustin, met up with them once they were inside the dance. Then a bunch of jocks and cheerleaders naturally gravitated toward Lana, Dustin, and Whitney, and Emily was fairly popular too, so pretty soon Jessica found herself crushed in the center of the fray.

Then Justin pulled her out onto the dance floor, smiling - when had they begun holding hands? - and they stood close together.

"Confession time," Jessica admitted. "I'm a horribly awkward dancer. I'm sorry if that's a deal breaker for you."

Justin laughed. "Damn," he joked. "I was conned into a date with a horrible dancer. No, look," he said, as Jessica's face blanched. "I'm kidding. Here, let's try this."

Jessica stood on his feet, which worked since she was tiny anyway, and he danced for her. They stood close together, her head on his shoulder and his arms around her, and Jessica was blushing furiously, but Justin didn't seem to notice.

At last, the homecoming king and queen were announced. It was Lana and Whitney, naturally. Jessica smiled and clapped along with the rest as Lana and Whitney walked forward to receive their crowns.

Just then, the fire sprinklers all across the auditorium went off. Someone was playing a prank. There were squeals, shrieks, and laughter as everyone got soaking wet. Jessica immediately moved toward the back door. "I'll go turn them off!" she called. She walked outside, and was met by a pair of hands.

Jessica stared in shock as Jeremy Creek grabbed her, his face furious, and electricity flashed from his hands and onto her skin. But Jessica - wasn't hurt. On the contrary, she felt a sudden surge of power. She grabbed Jeremy, threw him away with her real strength, and kicked a heel into his stomach to make him fly across the alleyway and land against the far wall with a thud.

Jeremy looked up, his eyes narrowed. "How - how did you do that?" he asked.

Jessica glared. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a low voice. "You're that kid who's been going around attacking people. Why hurt the people in there? They never did anything to you!"

"I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it on behalf of this year's scarecrow, on behalf of all the misfits, outcasts, nerds, the scarecrows of high school, the people who were never invited to the parties and never had any friends." Jeremy's face twisted as he said the words. "The people who were always turned down by girls like _you._ I figured, the sprinklers will get you all nice and wet, I'll handle the rest. But you -" He frowned. "It didn't work on you."

Jessica tried to bring his attention back to the point at hand. "I'm not letting you hurt my friends," she said. She walked forward.

"You don't have a choice," Jeremy responded. He stood up and put a hand on a rundown truck - the auto body repair shop was just across the way. The electricity jump started the engine and it revved to life. Jeremy jumped behind the wheel and drove the truck right into Jessica, who wasn't hurt but held onto the truck with an iron grip as she was rammed through a wall that held the water main system.

The brickwork and water collapsed around the truck, trapping Jeremy inside. Jessica got to her feet, shaken and damp, and was just in time to see electricity jump from Jeremy's hands. Charged by the water, it filled the truck with an eerie light. Jeremy seized as he was fried by his own electrical energy.

The minute the electricity died down, Jessica ran forward and pulled the truck through the brickwork, yanking the door off its hinges and tossing it aside to get to Jeremy within. Jeremy looked up, blinking. His aging had righted itself. He looked twenty six for the first time.

"Are you okay?" Jessica asked carefully.

"Who are you?" the aged Jeremy asked, confused. "Where am I?"

"My name is Jessica Kent. You're in Smallville," Jessica said. Then, tentatively, "... How much do you remember?"

"I remember being knocked out by the blast in Reilly Field," said Jeremy. "And then... nothing. I want to go home," he added plaintively.

"I know," said Jessica. Then she smiled slightly. "But how about we do something first? You never made it to your homecoming dance... But we're right near mine.

"How about we go turn that sprinkler system off and I'll give you a dance before handing you off to the police?"

* * *

Everyone was confused when Jessica led a bemused Jeremy back inside the dance. "He wanted to attack us because he didn't get to go to his own homecoming dance," she said, smiling.

"So your natural reaction was 'let's bring him in here'?" Pete asked skeptically.

"He's still bitter over that?" Whitney asked disbelievingly. "Talk about holding a grudge."

"I promised him a dance," said Jessica firmly. "Let's turn the music back on."

So the music was turned back on. Jessica sort of swayed on the spot with Jeremy, and slowly, others joined them on the dance floor. She put her head against his chest; she felt him smile and then place careful hands around her.

At the end, she stood back and smiled. "... Thank you," he said quietly.

She went to meet back up with Justin through the crowds. "So... you like him?" he asked tentatively, his face dark.

"No, don't be silly. I felt bad for him," said Jessica. "My date is _you._ Do you mind if we stop by the police station on the way home? He's technically a missing person."

So Jessica dropped Jeremy off at the police station, and left him full of memories of damp dark hair, glossy red lips, and shy smiles.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Jessica was asleep in her bed the next morning, and she was dreaming. In her dream, she was in a lacy white wedding dress, holdings hands with Justin at the altar. She looked down modestly, smiling and blushing, and just as the minister said, "You may now kiss the bride," she looked up... and standing there was Lex. She awoke feeling very confused. For this reason, it took her a ridiculously long time to realize something important:

She was floating.

Jessica looked down, gasped, her eyes widened, and she fell hard onto the bed below. She lay there for a moment in shock - and then shot straight upright, her feet hitting the floor.

What had she been thinking of when she'd been floating? She thought back. She'd been thinking of romance... but she tried remembering the dream and nothing happened. She thought of dancing with Justin at the homecoming dance... and she began hovering a little. She thought of romance in the abstract and she came back down again.

So... if it wasn't romance that made her float... was it happiness? She thought of some other happy memories from her childhood. Baking apple pies with her Mom, going on tractor rides across the golden farm fields in the setting sun with her Dad. Sure enough, she began floating again, hovering just a few inches above her seat.

She came slowly back down, in something like disbelief.

"Jessica Mary Kent! We leave for the farmer's market in fifteen minutes and you haven't done your chores yet!" her mother called up the stairs. That was right. It was Saturday.

Jessica got dressed and came down into the kitchen. "Hey, guys... check out what I can do." Blinking matter of factly, she pushed some energy into her feet and began floating a few inches above the ground. "I figured out it happens when I get happy."

Her parents stared. "You're breaking the law of _gravity,"_ said her father.

"It wouldn't be the first law of physics I've broken," Jessica pointed out. She floated back down again.

Mom smiled. "It certainly wouldn't be," she admitted. "So... do you think you can learn to control it?"

"With some practice. You know, it's kind of ironic," Jessica said flatly. "I can fly and I'm afraid of heights."

* * *

They met up with Justin at the farmer's market. Justin had decided to get in the good graces of his new girlfriend's parents by helping them out on market day.

Jonathan stopped in front of Justin and looked him over suspiciously for a moment. Justin was nervous and endearing. At last, Jonathan grunted. "Help us set up the stall," he ordered, and stalked away. Jessica was exasperated; her mother Martha hid a smile behind her hand.

They got started, setting up the stall and putting the produce out on display. Jonathan kept Jessica and Justin pretty far apart. They shared a secret, amused smile, and then Martha moved so the two of them could stand next to each other. Justin held her hand underneath the table. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Farmer's market was one of Smallville's biggest to-dos. It was practically a fair. There were long lines of stalls, selling everything from fruit and vegetables to jams and hand carved wooden knick knacks. Everyone came out and wandered around, looking at the different displays.

Whitney and Lana stopped by their stall on the way through the farmer's market. "Congratulations, Whitney!" said Dad enthusiastically. "That was one heck of a game. I haven't seen an offense that good since I played." He was talking about homecoming night.

"Thank you, Mr Kent," said Whitney, shrugging and smiling.

Just then, a boy walked up behind them. "Lana," he said.

"Buzz off, Arkin," Whitney snapped.

"Hey, now, that's unnecessary -" Jonathan began.

Lana said what Jessica was thinking. "Greg Arkin? Whatever happened to your glasses and all your..." Lana paused, embarrassed, unsure how to continue.

"I think what Lana is trying to say is that you found some sort of miracle skin cure. You look great, man," said Justin helpfully. Greg Arkin was one of the least popular boys in school; he was insect obsessed and got "Bug Boy" comments a lot. Jessica only knew him through the school paper. But today, he'd never looked better - it was like he'd gotten some weird makeover.

"I... I just wanted to know if Lana could help me with my English paper," Greg muttered, shrugging and looking at the ground, hands in his pockets.

"I'd be glad to," said Lana sympathetically. "How about we meet in the library after sixth period Monday?"

"Sounds great," said Greg, and he left quickly.

"Now, Whitney, why'd you have to go and act like that?" Jonathan had asked the question, but it was what everyone seemed to want to know.

"He's always following Lana around; it's creepy," said Whitney darkly.

"He has a bit of a crush," said Lana delicately. "But that's no excuse for acting like an ass. Come on, let's go." Displeased, she pulled Whitney away.

"Trouble in paradise," a voice noted. Jessica turned around to find Lex standing there. "Hey, Mr Kent. Can I borrow Jessica for a minute?" Lex put out his hand as he spoke. Jonathan glared at it suspiciously, and then at last grudgingly he shook it.

"Make it quick," said Jessica's father, and Lex pulled her off to the side.

"At least I got a handshake this time. Anyway, that kid who just left," said Lex. "What's his name?"

"Greg Arkin. He's science reporter for The Torch - the school paper I work on? He's obsessed with two things, and they're insects and Lana. He gets picked on a lot for it. That's why Lana just pulled Whitney away. Whitney treated him the way everyone treats him and I guess Lana didn't like it. Why?" Jessica asked.

"Because I found him strung up in a field last night on my drive home from work." Lex raised his eyebrows frankly. "I heard him calling for help and I went out with a flashlight to find him. What the hell was going on there? Even the Romans saved behavior like that for special occasions; he could have died out there."

Jessica's eyes widened and then she winced. "Poor Greg. He must have been made this year's Scarecrow. I guess it would make sense, if Whitney doesn't like him..." She explained the tradition to Lex.

"That field belongs to me," said Lex darkly, "and I don't particularly like the idea of playing host to some freaky Children of the Corn tradition. Consider the problem dealt with." His voice was so decisive, Jessica privately pitied whoever crossed his path.

"You would really involve yourself so deeply in a high school prank?" Jessica asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed. I'm just surprised."

"I have two reasons for wanting the Scarecrow problem dealt with," said Lex. "First, I was picked on myself in school. Don't look so surprised; rich kids at private schools are just as shitty as poor kids at public schools - maybe even more so. And second..." He paused. "I was here during the Smallville meteor shower," he revealed. "I was on a business trip with my father. I wandered out into a field and caught sight of some kid who I guess was the Scarecrow for that year. He's the last thing I saw before the fiery meteors started falling from the sky. It's not exactly a pleasant memory. I wasn't jumping for joy to come back here. Not that I'm not glad I met you," he added.

"I'm amazed you survived," said Jessica sympathetically.

"I nearly didn't. I could have died. As it was, exposure to the blast did something to my body - I lost all illnesses, including my asthma, and in the same stroke I also lost all my hair. Thanks for never mentioning that, by the way."

"For all I knew, it could have been a personal choice," said Jessica. "You'll get no judgment from me. I'm sorry," she added guiltily, "that you had to go through that."

"It's not your fault," said Lex. _Well,_ Jessica thought, _actually, it is._

* * *

The Kents parted ways with Justin at the end of market day. Justin had asked her about Lex Luthor, but Jessica had been able to wave him off.

"I guess I'll see you at school on Monday," said Justin.

"Of course," said Jessica, smiling a little. "How about we meet in front of The Torch office and have lunch together?"

So Jessica got in the truck with her parents and they began driving back home. They had been driving for a while on some dusty back country road lined with willow trees when they came across something odd. A truck was crashed off to the side of the road...

"That's Whitney's truck!" said Jessica, her eyes widened. "Did Lana go home with him?!" The second her Dad stopped the truck, she was out and pulling Whitney from the wreckage of his car. He was alone. It took her an average of about half a second to make it from one place to the other.

Just then, a gasoline leak in the truck ignited. The truck exploded. Jessica threw Whitney to the ground and shielded his body with her own. She felt the flames engulf her, felt warmth lick her body, saw the mass of bright red and orange colors... and yet there was no pain. Nothing.

The flames retreated, leaving Jessica completely unharmed. She was flame retardant.

Her parents ran over; her father touched her skin and ripped his hand back, burned by it. Jessica looked up, and got up off of Whitney... there were soot and scorch marks all around him, and where he was, nothing.

* * *

The minute she got home, Lana was on the phone, sobbing her thanks and making apologies. She'd gone home with her aunt instead of her boyfriend, a choice which might have saved her life. Jessica said over and over again that it was no big deal. Mom retreated out to the barn, seeming rather shaken. Dad called the hospital to make sure Whitney was okay.

He came out onto the porch to talk with Jessica. "Whitney's going to be alright," said Dad. "He's got a couple of cuts and bruises, but nothing serious."

"Does he remember anything?" Jessica asked in dread.

"No. Just that something smashed his truck and he woke up in the ambulance."

Jessica relaxed in relief. There was silence on the porch for a while. Jessica rubbed her arms, holding them around herself. She'd changed clothes, into a pair of black camo pants and a black off-the-shoulder sweater. Her old clothes needed a serious dunk in a bucket of ice water.

"Jessica, I just want you to know how proud we are of you. All this saving people," said her father at last.

"Thanks, Dad," she said. Then, looking down, softly, "It should feel weird, what I'm going through... but it doesn't. I _like_ saving people. I - I think it could be my thing. You know, like how everyone has a thing," Jessica explained at her father's stare. "For you and Mom, it's being farmers and amazing parents. For Chloe, it's being a reporter. Lana's a community service oriented cheerleader. Emily's a bossy, chatty science nerd. Lex is a rich playboy. Well, I think I've found my thing. It's rewarding, thinking my powers are actually _good_ for something for a change. I feel like I could start making up for all the damage I caused by arriving here."

"Jessica, there's nothing to make up for -"

"People keep telling me that." She winced. "But it doesn't _feel_ that way. Dad, how do I stop feeling guilty, aside from telling myself to stop feeling guilty?"

"... You can't," Dad said after a moment. "But that's what makes you human."

"It's just - there's Lana's parents. And Lex's disfiguration. And the meteor freaks, and the weird mutations, and the - Maybe it would have been better for everyone involved if I'd never arrived at all," said Jessica, looking down, her hair tucked over her shoulder.

"Now, you know that's not true. Jessica, if you'd never arrived, almost everyone you've just mentioned would be dead."

Jessica looked up, staring at him.

"It's true," said her Dad intently. "Lana or Emily or even both of them would have drowned in that river. Chloe might never have made any Smallville friends. Lex would have died during his car accident. And your mother and I would be unhappy and childless." He put his hand on her cheek. "Never feel like you don't matter, sweetheart. And I'm glad you've found your thing. Just - don't go throwing yourself off of any tall buildings, okay?"

Jessica smiled, but her face was emotional, vulnerable. "Thanks, Dad," she said. Then she brightened. "Ooh! If I master flying, can I throw myself off of tall buildings?"

"... The jury's still out on that one," Dad admitted.

"I'm going to go practice!" Jessica ran out into the field by the back porch. She stood there, closed her eyes, and thought of something happy. After a moment, that floating feeling came back. She opened her eyes, looked down at the ground... freaked out at how fast it was falling away from her, and crashed again.

"Okay," she said, wincing in pain and getting up. "Let's try something else." She looked up at the sky instead of down at the ground, floated further and further upward... Her mind started wandering to the clouds in the sky, and she crashed again.

She sat up. "This is going to take some time," she admitted.

* * *

Jessica practiced flying all through Sunday, breaking up time only to do things like sleep and do her chores. She went back to school on Monday, had lunch with Justin, and got through the day, only for Emily and Chloe to meet with her after school was over.

"Do you know where Lana is?" they asked, worried. "We haven't heard from her all day."

"Last I heard, she was meeting Greg Arkin in the library," said Jessica. "Let's check there."

They went to the library, but Greg and Lana weren't there. They asked the vast, bespectacled librarian. "Oh, they were here for a while," she said in surprise. "But they left. I don't know where."

Lana's friends frowned in concern. They met up outside the library. "Maybe they went to Greg's house?" Emily suggested. "Do we know where it is?"

"Do we really need to go that far?" asked Jessica.

"I don't know," said Chloe slowly. "I just have a bad feeling... It's not like Lana to go somewhere with a strange boy without telling anyone." Then Chloe's eyes lit up. "Pete used to be friends with Greg," she said. "Pete will know where his house is."

They went to Pete, a dark-skinned boy with a round, boyish face, who seemed a little nonplussed but agreed willingly enough to take them to Greg's house.

* * *

Greg's house was unassuming - small, but intimidatingly neat, even on the outside. They knocked on the door and rang the doorbell, but no one answered. Pete peeked through the window. "It's a mess inside," he said in surprise. "Greg's Mom was always such a neat freak. It's like she just up and disappeared."

"Is it all dark inside?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, no one's here," said Pete, shrugging.

So without further ado, Chloe broke open the window and slid through into the house beyond.

"Chloe!" everyone else shouted in disbelief.

"Call it a hunch," said Chloe intently, and she moved on further into the house. Chloe's friends looked at each other helplessly. Pete was the first to follow, and the rest shrugged and followed them.

 _Breaking and entering,_ Jessica thought. _Chalk that up as the first law I've ever broken._

* * *

Something was wrong right from the get-go. The temperature in the house was incredibly hot and humid, with the heater on full-blast despite the fact that it was sunny out. Dirty handprints were painted all over the walls, sticky footprints were stuck to the ceiling, and the house was completely trashed. They went into Greg's bedroom and found it covered in huge, human sized spiderwebs.

"This isn't fake," said Jessica in realization as she fingered the spiderweb. Her eyes were wide. "Something really made this."

"Guys, I'm getting really freaked out," said Emily nervously.

"Whatever happened to all the tanks of bugs Greg used to keep in his room?" Pete asked, confused.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Emily snapped.

"Everything," said Chloe, turning around. "I knew it. I think Greg's become a meteor freak. That would explain his sudden new makeover."

"You're saying he's become part _bug?"_ asked Jessica disbelievingly.

"His insect containers were filled with green meteor rock for the bugs to climb over," Pete remembered. "I used to hang out at his place before his parents divorced. After that, Greg just stopped calling."

"If he was attacked by a swarm of his insects while moving them somewhere else, that could explain his sudden new abilities," said Chloe.

"So what would he want with Lana?" Emily wondered.

"Bugs mate," said Chloe grimly, "remember?"

The three girls turned to Pete. "Pete, if Greg were taking Lana somewhere, where would he go?" Jessica asked worriedly.

Pete was uncomfortable. "Well... before he left the family, Greg's Dad built this great tree fort for him out in the woods, near the old Creekside Foundry. We used to play there. It would have special significance to Greg because it's something his Dad gave him. It's also pretty far removed from town. If I had to hazard a guess... I'd say to check there."

* * *

Emily, Pete, and Chloe went back toward town to report a kidnapping while Jessica speed ran over to the woods. She found the old foundry first, an open stone building that had been abandoned since the meteor shower, and then followed the shadowy forest trail to a giant wood tree fort up in a tree. She paused, and then shot some energy into her legs, floating up toward the tree fort. She swallowed, keeping her eyes upward and trying not to be nervous or dizzy as the ground fell away from her. In a moment, she was beside the tree fort.

She rammed her way straight through the tree fort's wall, flew over Lana's unconscious form, and hit Greg, pushing him through the opposing wall and down to the ground.

Jessica floated there above him, glaring, as he landed on his feet and looked up at her. "You're not sexually assaulting my friend," she snapped.

Greg smirked. "Alright. Try and stop me, then."

Greg was just as fast and strong as Jessica. They flew at each other with great impacts at high speeds, connecting again and again, circling around each other. At last, Jessica looked at the ground around Greg and her eyes lit up.

Fire sprang to life on the ground, entrapping Greg in a tight circle. Greg cringed, looking for a way out - bugs weren't invulnerable to fire. Now was the ultimate test - to see if Greg had some sort of tough exoskeleton.

Jessica flew up to a tree and grabbed a branch, ripping it clean off the tree. She dropped the tree branch straight onto the trapped Greg's head. There was a snap and he crumpled there, unconscious. Jessica landed and ran over the fire in a great spurt of wind, putting it out.

Jessica flew into the tree fort and found some rope. She landed beside Greg in a kneel and tied him up. His eyes fluttered open and he looked hazily at her. Jessica smiled sadly, and kissed him on the cheek.

"There. You can't hurt anyone anymore," she said.

* * *

A day later, Chloe, Emily, Lana, and Jessica were walking one of the fields of Lana's property together.

"He threatened to kill everyone in the library if I didn't go with him," Lana was saying later. "I _had_ to go. Thanks for saving me," she added apologetically. "First my boyfriend, now me."

Jessica smiled slightly. "No problem," she said. "I just knocked Greg out from behind and tied him up." That was their story for people who weren't 'in the know.'

"Greg's mother was found dead in their house," said Chloe seriously. "And he also admitted to trying to kill Whitney Fordman by attacking his car. Greg will be sent to a local asylum called Belle Reeve."

"That's where Jeremy Creek went, too," Jessica added, remembering. "So are you guys okay?"

"Are _you_?" Emily asked. "You're the one who defeated him."

"I actually feel great," Jessica admitted, smiling. "I love the feeling that comes with saving people."

* * *

That night, Jessica had her next shift at The Beanery.

"There she is, in the throes of indentured servitude." Jessica whirled around, smiling, to find an amused Lex standing there. "You weren't kidding about that whole waitress thing."

"Nope. Not all of us are lucky enough to be rich, Lex." Jessica moved past him with a tray of drinks to carry over to table three

"No, hey, you're hardworking. I admire that." Lex sounded sincere.

"There she is, the freak. Enjoying your shift, freak? I'm surprised any restaurant wanted to hire a freak like you. Aren't waitresses supposed to be happy and pretty?" Shrill laughter. Jessica turned around, her face aflame, to find Felice Chandler standing there.

Great. Felice was going to pick on her in front of Lex, of all people.

"If you have a drink to order, I'll be glad to handle it, Chandler," said Jessica in a low voice. "Otherwise, let me do my job." She moved past Felice to head to table three.

Felice pushed her tray of hot coffee, spilling it all over the front of Jessica's shirt and apron. Jessica stopped, covered in coffee, as the mugs clattered to the floor. People all over the restaurant started clapping sarcastically.

Jessica really wanted to cry, but no way was she crying in front of Lex and Felice. She did what she always did when she got really upset - she shut down emotionally, became robotic and blank faced. Quietly, hiding behind her long straight hair, she kneeled down to pick up the cups of coffee.

Felice went to kick her in the face and Jessica's hand was there, stopping her foot. Jessica's eyes narrowed as she glared up at Felice, her face twisted. There was a moment of silent tension.

"What's your name?" Lex asked at last, alerting everyone else to his presence. He was looking sharply at Felice.

"Mr Luthor." Felice smiled, preening, and Jessica's teeth set. "My name is Felice Chandler; are you interested?"

"Chandler. Your father works for me," said Lex, smiling pleasantly. "Well, then, this is perfect. I'll just fire him and deal personally with his family. Problem solved!"

Felice's face blanched. "You - you can't do that!" she said shrilly.

"That sounds like a challenge." The pleasant smile hadn't left Lex's face. His eyes were sharp. "I can assure you I most certainly can. It's amazing what throwing around a little money can do. You'd better treasure those clothes you're wearing, Felice Chandler, because they're the last expensive things your father will ever buy you."

"Let's - let's be reasonable," said Felice nervously. "I'll stop talking to the freak. I promise I'll never do anything to her again!"

"That's a good start," Lex agreed. "But first I want to hear an apology."

Felice paused. "... What?"

Lex seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. "I want to hear. An apology." He took out the cell phone in his hand. "Otherwise, I'm making the call that ruins your father's life."

Felice looked, trapped, between Lex and the cell phone. "Well - well -" she sputtered. Then at last, she turned around to Jessica, her face screwed up. "... _Sorry,"_ she said forcedly.

"That didn't sound very sincere, did it, Jessica?" Lex asked thoughtfully.

"Lex, it's fine," said Jessica cautiously, standing. "Don't be cruel."

Lex paused. "You're lucky Jessica is forgiving," he said at last. He moved closer to Felice. "If I _ever_ hear of you picking on Kent or her family again," he said darkly, "I will personally ensure your life is _destroyed_." There was something terrible about Lex as he was in that moment.

Felice backed up, her face blanching. "Fine - fine - let's get out of here!" She and her posse scurried away. Zoe paused by the door and looked after them curiously.

"They looked terrified," she said in surprise. "What happened?"

"I set Lex on them," said Jessica. Lex looked rather pleased with himself.

"I should probably scold you for scaring away customers..." said Zoe. "But considering how those girls always treated you when they came in, I guess I'm glad _someone_ told them off. By the way, Jessica." She gave a sly smile. "There's someone else here to see you." She pointed. Justin was standing behind the counter, smiling.

"Justin!" Jessica smiled and hurried over, which for her was indicative of positive delight.

"Hey, Jessica," said Justin. "Thought I'd visit you at work. I was wondering if you wanted to go to Sam's Diner sometime next week? Like... you know... On a date?" Justin looked hopeful.

"That sounds great," said Jessica, smiling. Then she revealed, "I have your drawing of me hung up in my room."

Justin's smile widened and seemed to fill his whole face. "I'll - I'll make you another," he said breathlessly. They talked for a few minutes and then Justin left.

"Who was that?" Lex asked, smiling a little, coming up behind her.

"That was Justin. He's - sort of my boyfriend," said Jessica shyly.

Lex's smile widened. "He's lucky," is all Lex said.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

Jessica looked in the mirror as she dressed. She put on a good pair of jeans, a blouse, and a nice dark jacket. Hopefully, that would be good enough for a date to a diner. She couldn't understand why it would not be.

She leaned against the wall and turned on her music, putting her headphones in. Jewel's "Jesus Loves You" came on over the music player, followed quickly by OneRepublic's "Secrets."

Eventually, she left to begin the walk to town. "Off on your date?" Mom asked, smiling, from the kitchen. "I'm off to class soon myself."

"Have fun," said Jessica softly, a bit absently. Her head was already on her date with Justin.

"You're the one who's going to have fun," said Mom. "Not me."

Jessica made it to Sam's, a cozy little place with ample portions and chicken decorated plates hanging from the walls and lots of comfy corner booths, and found Justin already waiting there. He smiled and hurried forward to open the door for her. They found a table and he slid out a chair, helping her into it.

They just... talked. Justin talked about his frustration over his family's contempt of his art, and his goals once he got out of school - he wanted to go to an art college. Jessica mostly listened - she was a good listener. She tried to be supportive.

"I think it's really cool what you do," Jessica offered.

"Thanks," said Justin, smiling. "But you're a writer. I couldn't do that."

Their food arrived and they ate with gusto. Justin laughed as Jessica's appetite matched his. (Jessica was a big-eater, steak-over-salad kind of girl.)

Jessica held back a smile. "You don't have a problem with how much I eat, do you?" she asked slyly.

"No," said Justin in amusement. "I was half afraid you'd be one of those stupid girls who's on a fad diet. Guess I shouldn't have worried. You're a lot more classy and sensible than that."

"Well, it's not stupid," Jessica argued softly. "They're just... they're caught up in this image society has told them of how they should be. I get caught in that sometimes just like any other girl. When the standard you're supposed to live up to is impossible, you can't help getting down on yourself sometimes."

"Sort of like how all guys are supposed to be jocks," Justin agreed thoughtfully.

And they got into a whole conversation about the standards society had set for them.

Afterward, they held hands and walked around on Main Street, looking through the antique shops together. Mom's friend Mrs Greer - who ran one of the shops - smiled secretly as she watched them, and her daughter Tina, who was distant friends with Jessica and her friends, came up to them beaming.

"Are you guys on a date?" she asked loudly. Jessica fought the urge to wince. Tina could be a little awkward at times.

"Yes," she said.

Tina's eyes flashed. "You'll have to call me so we can dish about it later," she said, beaming in a 'nudge-nudge-wink-wink' sort of way. Jessica smiled, a little overwhelmed.

It was as they were walking along main street in the quiet that Justin suddenly leaned over and kissed Jessica. Jessica's eyes flew open in surprise as their lips brushed.

Justin shrugged, smiling and blushing. "It just - seemed like the thing to do," he said. Jessica smiled, and kissed him back.

* * *

"Thanks for telling me about this, Chloe," said Lana firmly. "I've already quit the cheerleading team."

"Whoa, isn't that a little extreme?" Chloe asked in surprise.

The four girls were walking along campus before class, talking about Chloe's latest Torch article, which was about seven football players cheating on their math midterm so they could stay on the team.

"No. I never liked being a cheerleader; I only became one because my mother and aunt were cheerleaders," said Lana. "I'm not a fan of the parties, I don't like the people on my team, and I don't want to cheer for people who would cheat to win. Whitney and I got into a huge fight about it," Lana admitted. "He actually supported them! Can you believe that?"

"Well, I can sort of see why they did it. Not in an 'I would do it myself' sort of way," Emily added quickly, because Lana was glaring. "But, I mean... Football is a huge social part of any person's life. I can see being willing to do anything not to let that go."

"On the note of not being able to let go, I've already started getting hate mail," said Chloe cheerfully. "Over my article on the cheating? I implied in the article that the football players were abusing their privileges as jocks. The hate mail's just been flooding in."

"That's awful!" said Lana heatedly.

"Are you sure it's from the football team, though?" Jessica asked. "I've read some of it, and it seems a little third person."

"Are you kidding me? With the horrible grammar and all the times they say the word 'fuck'?" Chloe grinned. "It's gotta be the football players!"

"That's it. I'm joining you guys," said Lana. "Chloe, I'd like to be a part of The Torch. And Jessica, do you think you could put in a good word for me at The Beanery?"

"We _are_ looking for a new employee," said Jessica. "Sure, I can talk to Zoe for you if you'd like." She was a little taken aback, but Jessica supported her friends.

"What about me?" Emily pouted, injured. Then she brightened. "Ooh, I know! I could invite you to _my_ friends' parties!"

"Sounds good," Lana laughed.

Just then, the football players walked by to gather with the cheerleaders around the football coach, Coach Walt, a big old man - a football player gone to seed - with a Brooklyn accent.

"Ooh, ooh, I need a picture of the cheating jockstraps!" said Chloe eagerly, taking out her camera.

"Chloe, I'm not sure if that's such a good -" Lana began, but Chloe's camera was already clicking away. Suddenly, a football player saw Chloe's camera. He chucked a football right at Chloe's face.

Before Chloe could do more than flinch, Jessica stuck her hand out and grabbed the ball. She glared, her face twisting. Then she chucked the ball hard and hit the player right in the nuts. All the other football players backed up, laughing, as the boy fell to his knees.

"Let's go," said Lana in disgust. "They're not even worth it."

* * *

"Kent!" Jessica turned around in the hallway. The women's basketball coach Heather Johnson, a tall woman with a dirty blonde ponytail, was walking over to her. "Coach Walt told me to talk to you. He said you have one hell of an arm. And you'd better be good, because you're a hell of a lot shorter than I'm used to."

"Umm - Coach Walt? He, he doesn't know me," Jessica stuttered, nervous.

"He saw you nail some kid in the nuts with a football." Heather smirked. "I thought that was such a cool story I decided to take him up on his word and come talk to you."

"Well - I can't join the team, Coach Johnson," said Jessica shyly. "My parents don't want me on a sports team."

"Traditionalists, eh? I hate them. Let's just put you through your paces, kid, and see what you've got."

"But - but -" Jessica was pulled away to the gym despite herself.

It only took Coach Johnson a few minutes at tryouts to figure out Jessica was who she'd been searching for. Jessica made up for her size by jumping high and having really strong arms. She was fast and strong, she was good at what she did, she wasn't a showoff who was trying to impress with flash, and she was capable of coordinating with the other people Heather had roused up to play with her. Her technique wasn't perfect, but they could work on that.

"Okay, stop! Kent, you're on the team," said Coach Johnson brusquely. She scowled, hands on her hips.

"But - Coach, my parents -"

"Kent, do you want to be on the basketball team? Just you. No one else." Heather looked at her intently.

"Well - yeah. I mean, my Dad taught me how to play when I was really little. Sports could always be something we could do together. I like basketball and I'd love to play on a sports team," Jessica admitted quietly.

"Then you'll find a way to make it happen," said Coach Johnson. "Dismissed. Oh, and Kent?" she added, as Jessica went to turn away. "Put your hair back. I don't want it getting into your face during a game."

* * *

Jessica told her friends about what had happened at lunch that day.

"And then she told me to keep my hair back for the games. As if - as if she's actually going to play me during my freshman year," said Jessica disbelievingly.

"Don't take that too literally," Whitney warned her. "Still. Good job, Kent."

"What are you going to do about your parents?" Lana asked.

"I think I'm just... not going to tell them," Jessica admitted. "Coach Johnson didn't seem to see anything... off. You know, about a girl playing basketball," she covered, though she, Lana, and Emily knew that wasn't really what she was talking about. Jessica was saying Coach Johnson hadn't seemed to see her as unduly strong and fast. "But I think they'd get mad all the same. So I just won't tell them. I'll tell them I'm taking extra shifts at work instead.

"I also think I'll join the school robotics club. If I'm going to rebel, might as well do it all the way," said Jessica.

"Revolutionary. I like it." Justin smiled. "She's right, you know." He took out her headband and threaded it through her hair, pushing it back from your face. "You really do look nice with your hair back."

Jessica looked down, then looked up shyly under her eyelashes and smiled.

Helped along by combined encouragement, she started wearing her headband more often. She also began wearing more tank tops and capris, in lighter colors, to go with her new look. Her parents were surprised, but Jessica thought the new clothes reflected her new happiness and confidence.

Between her new boyfriend, basketball, robotics, the school newspaper, and her job, Jessica quickly had almost no time for anything. But she was about to make time for something in particular. Everything was about to blow up in the school's collective face - it was about time for Jessica to start saving people again.

* * *

A few days later, Jessica was leaving the school late one evening after basketball practice and she saw something rather odd. There was a flickering light coming from across the teacher's parking lot. She paused, squinting and looking closer... A car was on fire!

In half a second, she was beside the car. In another half a second, the car door had been torn clean off. She reached inside through the flames, pulled the unconscious man out of the burning wreckage, and put out the fire on his clothes. She looked into his face - it was Principal Kwan, his thin face covered in soot, making his high cheekbones look gaunt.

Jessica made the call with her cell phone and watched as Principal Kwan was loaded away onto an ambulance stretcher. As she was standing there above him, his eyes fluttered open and he looked into her face.

"What happened?" she asked sympathetically.

"I don't know," he muttered. "The car just spontaneously burst into flames..."

Jessica looked after the ambulance worriedly as it drove away. (The firefighters were busy working on the wreckage of the car.) What kind of car caught fire of its own accord?

The first thing that came to her mind: one that had been jinxed.

She didn't leave her phone number with the officials, not wanting them to call her while she was at home. She dusted herself of all soot, and when she got home she pretended it was just another evening coming back from work at The Beanery. She had dinner with her parents, then went up into the loft after dinner and called Chloe.

"Chloe, you're queen of all things weird -"

"I always knew you liked me, Jessica."

"I've got a story for you. What do you make of this?" She told her about the fire set to Principal Kwan's car, leaving out the parts involving her abilities.

"Someone had to have done that to Principal Kwan's car," said Chloe. "Maybe they sabotaged it through technology, or maybe a meteor freak who controls flame did it. But either way, it was no accident."

"The cops said it was probably faulty wiring," said Jessica. Chloe scoffed. "Okay, I admit, it sounds a little implausible. The question is, what was Kwan doing that was so controversial?" Jessica asked.

There was silence on the other end for a moment. Then, "... He's investigating the cheating scandal," said Chloe in realization.

"You think it was someone from the football team?" Jessica asked.

"It's the only logical explanation," Chloe insisted. "Who else attempts to assassinate a high school principal?"

* * *

Lana had started work at The Beanery. Chloe and Emily came by on her first night for moral support.

"How is she doing?" Chloe asked Jessica as they watched Lana wait tables from a distance.

Jessica winced. "She's - well, she's trying," she said.

Emily laughed. "Oh," said Chloe, smiling.

"She's a little absent minded. She forgets tables and gets drinks wrong a lot," said Jessica. "Day-dreaminess is great for Jane Austen literature, poetry, or photography. Not so good for a waitressing job."

But Chloe was already looking at something else. A football player in a letterman's jacket had walked up to some others who were sitting down. Jessica recognized them with a jolt - they were the ones who had cheated on the math test.

"Coach wants to see us on the field right away," said the first football player - Jessica thought his name was Trevor. All the football players immediately got up and left.

Jessica and Chloe exchanged a look, and then Chloe stood and moved toward the door to follow the players. "Chloe," said Jessica, and Chloe looked back. "Be careful," she said simply. Chloe nodded and left. Jessica wished she could go with her, but -

All of a sudden, Lana's tray fell with a crash, breaking mugs and spilling hot coffee everywhere. Jessica sighed, and went to help her clean it up.

Jessica had other things to do.

* * *

Later that night, Jessica got a phone call. She answered it immediately. "Chloe?"

"It's Coach Walt," Chloe breathed. "I eavesdropped on his meeting with the players. He supplied them with the test. Trevor admitted that to Kwan and that's why Walt attempted to kill Kwan."

"But how do you know it was -?"

"He threatened them with streams of fire. He's a meteor freak. I don't know how, but he's a meteor freak. I have photographic evidence."

"So what's your plan from here?" Jessica asked.

"Tomorrow night, after school, I talk to Trevor and print out the picture."

"No. Chloe, listen to me. Trevor admitted his betrayal to Walt, didn't he? Why?" Jessica asked intently.

Chloe paused. "Because Walt threatened him," she said.

"And Walt will do that again. Talking to any of the players isn't safe. You know it's Walt and he's threatening people in order to win games. That's all we need. Come over to my house tonight and we'll print out the pictures using my printer. But I want you to wait before giving them to anyone."

"Wait? Wait for what?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe," said Jessica, "you're just going to have to trust me."

* * *

She went to the school pep rally with Justin the next night. She figured Walt would show up - after all, all his players were at the pep rally. People sat on logs around the great bonfire, watching the football players and crow mascot dance around to marching band music. Jessica watched Walt closely from across the bonfire. Walt seemed jumpy. Shifty eyed.

At last, Walt broke off to head to the parking lot, and Jessica stood up. "Justin, I'll be right back," she said. She followed Walt out to the darkened parking lot, and called to him, "Walt! Are you really so determined to win that you're willing to kill and threaten people in order to do it?"

Walt turned around, his face threatening. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Sure, you don't. I have photographic evidence, you know. Evidence that you can control fire." Jessica was calm - confident.

"Your father played for me! I gave you that recommendation to Coach Johnson! You should understand! This will be my 200th win on my 25th year. They can't shut me out now. We're not talking about just a game, we're talking about my legacy!" Walt shouted.

"No legacy is worth hurting people over," said Jessica. "And I'll tell you what. I'm recording this conversation with my cell phone. You just admitted to what I thought you did." She was bluffing.

Walt's face twisted - and then flames flickered to life on Jessica's front. She stood there, unmoving, as the flames slowly flickered out of existence with nothing to give them life. Walt's eyes widened in surprise.

"What _are_ you?" he asked.

Jessica moved, and the world stopped. She ran easily over to Walt, and then stopped. The world returned to normal again. Walt jumped. To him, it was as if she had disappeared in one place and reappeared in another. Jessica pushed Walt, and he went flying, landing hard on top of a car.

Walt sat up and flames ignited around him - and onto the car. Seconds later, the car had exploded, and Walt had gone up in flames. An awful smell filled the air as Jessica was pushed back, away from the blast.

She stood up, and ran at low speeds back to the bonfire. "Walt's a meteor freak!" she shouted. "Quick! He just set himself on _fire_!"

People went running, and Justin quickly pulled her into his arms when he saw what had happened to Walt. "Thank God he didn't hurt you," said Justin. "What were you even doing out there?"

"Sorry, I just - I wanted to thank him for the recommendation to Coach Johnson," Jessica whispered.

Chloe was giving her a very certain look. Jessica met her eyes, and then winced. Chloe looked away again, and said nothing.

Meteor rock was found later in Walt's private sauna in the boy's locker rooms.

* * *

The next night, Lex came in to work at The Beanery with some paperwork. Jessica came over to his table, which was spread with sheets of paper, to take his order. "And what would you like?" She smiled, brandishing the pad of paper.

"Cappuccino, please," said Lex, smiling. "Is that Lana behind you? She's working here now?"

"... Yeah," Jessica admitted, wincing.

"I take it it's not going well," Lex observed dryly.

"Zoe came up to me and said that if Lana's work doesn't improve, she's going to have to fire her," said Jessica, troubled. "I haven't exactly told her yet."

"Eerie parallel," said Lex. "I'm here because my father's forcing me to fire twenty percent of my work force."

"There's no way around it?" Jessica asked.

"No way my father will accept," said Lex.

"What does that mean?" Jessica asked.

"It means that I'd like to be increasing my workforce. If we spend and our competitors retreat, when the sector bounces back, we'll corner the market. But my father prefers the standard method of retreating to save money. And as much as I'd like to rebel against him... But I suspect you don't know a lot about that."

"About not rebelling against my parents? I don't know about that," said Jessica. "Can you keep a secret?" Lex nodded curiously. "I've joined the basketball team and the robotics club. I haven't exactly told them. They're pretty traditionalist."

"Good for you," said Lex. "We need more women in sports, math, and science."

"If only my parents were as enlightened," despaired Jessica. The real reason her parents were against it, of course, was because of her abilities, but Lex didn't need to know that. "Do you play any sports?"

"Polo and fencing," said Lex.

"You're such a rich boy," said Jessica, smiling.

"Hey! I also do boxing," he added. "Maybe not when it comes to sports, but I'm also pretty familiar with what it's like to hide things from my father. To say we don't have a great relationship would be the understatement of the century. I wish you good luck, and I'll keep your secret."

"Thanks," said Jessica, smiling. "Let me go get your drink."

* * *

Lana went to meet with Jessica the next afternoon outside the football stadium. It was the last game of the season, and the mood was subdued thanks to Walt's sudden death. Jessica was there with Chloe, Pete, Justin, and Emily.

"Zoe fired me." Lana frowned. "Why didn't you tell me she was considering it?"

"I wasn't sure it was my place, and I was kind of hoping she wouldn't," Jessica admitted. "I'm sorry."

Lana nodded. "... Can I squeeze in?" she asked.

"Sure." Jessica waved her over and smiled.

They sat and watched the game, and it was a win for Smallville. Jessica looked up at the sky. "What do you know, Walt?" she whispered. "You won your 200th game and you didn't even get to see it."


	6. Chapter 6

6.

One afternoon after school, Jessica was walking toward The Beanery for her next shift. She was just back from basketball practice. In general, Jessica was insanely busy. If she didn't have basketball, she had robotics, and she had to work both around her shifts at work. She also attended all major school events for the paper. Even weekends weren't free - weekends were for chores, the farmer's market, and dates with Justin.

As she was walking down main street, she saw Lex, in a three piece suit with a backpack, running toward her. "Lex -?" she began, frowning in confusion. Lex pushed her aside, and right through a window display. She hit her head hard against a sunglasses case, and when she looked up -

Everything was in X ray. Lex's backpack was full of wads of money, and his skeleton glowed an eerie, meteor rock green. She stared after him as he ran away.

She would hear the news later: Lex Luthor, the richest man in town, had just robbed the bank at gunpoint.

* * *

Her parents were talking about the story in the kitchen over breakfast the next morning. It was all over the local paper.

"This is incredible," said Mom. "Why would _Lex Luthor_ need to rob a bank?"

"I've seen some pretty strange things in my day," said Dad in bewilderment, "but this definitely takes the cake. Well." He looked at Jessica. "Almost."

Jessica sighed. "Thanks," she said calmly.

Dad grinned. "Just being honest."

"He made off with 100,000 dollars," Mom read from the newspaper.

"There was something wrong with Lex," Jessica remembered, frowning. The green skeleton came back to her mind. "There was something off about him..."

"Maybe because it wasn't really me." They turned around to find Lex standing there in the kitchen doorway. "Can I come in? I promise I'm not packing heat." He entered the room calmly.

"Lex... why are you here instead of... in jail?" Jessica asked warily, tense.

"Because I was holding a reception for over two hundred fertilizer distributors in Metropolis at the time of the robbery," said Lex. "Also, the bank took the robber's signature and the robber left fingerprints all over the bank counter. Neither the signature nor the fingerprints matched mine."

Jessica tried to remember how her eyes felt when she'd seen in X ray. It was like an extra set of muscles behind her eyes _stretching..._ and then it happened. She looked at this Lex's skeleton and it was normal.

"This is really him," she confirmed. "I'm sure of it."

Lex raised an eyebrow. "And how are you so sure? Was there some physical difference between me and this person? I know your name was on the witness list, which is why I came over."

Jessica looked away, blushing. She wasn't sure what to say without mentioning her newfound ability. "It looked like you, Lex," she confirmed, "but... I don't know, something was off. The mannerisms, maybe," she added lamely. "It looked physically just like you, but underneath..."

"It wasn't a particularly good actor," Lex interpreted. "That's what the bank manager said, too. He said something felt off. It's nice to know I have such a distinctive presence," he added dryly, and Jessica figured she was in the clear. Then he looked at her and smiled. "I'm surprised you know me that well."

Jessica blushed and stared at her toes again.

"So what's going to happen now?" she asked.

"Well, hopefully the money will turn up," said Lex. "In the meantime, the Metropolis tabloids will have a field day and I'm sure certain people's opinions of me will be cemented in stone." He looked over sideways at Jessica's father.

Jonathan stood and left to go to work.

"I'm sorry you got pushed through that window," Lex added to Jessica. "I promise, I'm not a criminal mastermind."

"I know," said Jessica, looking up and smiling. "A criminal mastermind would have worn a mask." Lex relaxed in relief and smiled back.

On the way out, he turned around and added, "Game night as usual on Thursday?"

"Of course," said Jessica.

They'd taken to playing video games at Lex's place on Thursday nights. At first, Lex had tried to impress her with lots of fancy cuisine from his professional chef, but when Jessica had learned Lex had never ordered a pizza, she'd made a call to Mama Rosa's and started a trend. ("This is what ordinary friends do," she'd said. "They play video games and order pizza." Lex had smiled and said he deferred to her expertise.)

"By the way," Lex added. "I like your new look. It suits you." He smiled and left.

Jessica stared after him in surprise.

"He really cares about your opinion, you know," said Mom. "When he heard what happened, the first thing he did is come over here. His concern for Jonathan's opinion is an extension of his care for yours."

"He came because I was on the witness list," said Jessica in confusion.

"Uh huh," said Mom knowingly. "Sure." She smiled.

"What do you think of Lex, Mom?" Jessica asked.

Mom paused. "I think he's trying to be a good friend," she said at last.

* * *

Jessica's X ray vision kept popping up at odd times. She kept getting sudden flashes of head pain and darkened vision, and started seeing through weird things, including people's bodies, lockers, and backpacks. She discovered things about people she'd never wanted to know. It wreaked havoc with her concentration at school, where teachers started criticizing her for "zoning out" during class. Jessica thought it was the way she'd suddenly get a thousand-yard stare that had them a little leery.

Lana and Emily helped her out by hiding things behind their backs during lunch times. They would help her practice turning the vision on and off, so that she didn't see, saw, didn't see again. Her parents did the same thing. After having mastered her heat vision, mastering her X ray vision came a little easier - it was the same practice of stretching eye muscles back and forth, gaining mastery over them.

She was practicing out in the loft one afternoon when her mother came up the stairs. "Jessica, you have a visitor." Tina Greer was coming up the stairs behind her, pale and brown haired.

"Tina. What's up?" Jessica asked.

"Just - wanted to hang out. My Mom hasn't been feeling well; I need a break from the house," said Tina, shrugging.

Jessica frowned. "Well, I hope your mother feels better. Shouldn't someone be there with her?"

"Oh, don't worry, she's been feeling better, so." Tina looked away, standing there awkwardly. "Hey, your parents are really great," she added. "They were so friendly to me when I came by."

"My parents can be a little much at times, but they definitely care. Their heart's in the right place," said Jessica, smiling slightly.

"I don't see how you can even complain about your parents. You have, like, the perfect life," said Tina.

"Nobody has the perfect life," said Jessica.

"That's what my Mom would say," said Tina, making a face.

"You're not a big fan of your Mom?" Jessica asked, frowning slightly.

"She doesn't like her life. She didn't want to be a small business owner in some cow town, but that's how her life turned out and she's too chicken to go out and do something different. I never want that to happen to me. But she's the only person who cares enough to take me in, so." Tina ended her speech rather dispiritedly.

"Whitney says that a lot, too," said Jessica. "That he doesn't want to be another Smallville 'remember him?' Says that's what his father is. But I don't know. I don't think there's anything wrong with staying in Smallville. It's beautiful country, crime is low, the people are friendly - it's a nice, relaxed place. I'm glad my parents adopted me and brought me here -"

"And see, that's why you're lucky. If something happened to my Mom... I don't know what would happen to me," argued Tina.

"Tina, nothing's going to happen to your Mom," said Jessica firmly. "And even if something did, I'm sure you could rely on your friends in times of trouble. You're not alone," she added softly.

"You're always nice to me," said Tina, looking down. "Even though I'm unpopular."

"Tina, you're not - If you weren't so down on yourself all the time, I'm sure you'd be very popular," said Jessica firmly. Tina was famous at school for one thing, and it was trying to be just like Lana - Tina was a huge fan of pretending to be somebody else. "Besides, I'm not exactly at the height of the social spectrum myself."

"Are you kidding me? You've blossomed in high school. You've joined teams and clubs, you've gotten a boyfriend, Chandler's stopped picking on you, you have three amazing and popular best friends. And look at me. I'm just... me."

"There's nothing wrong with being you, Tina," said Jessica, frowning as she listened. It was starting to sound as if Tina's obsession with being someone else had transferred people. "And if you weren't so obsessed with how great everybody else is, you'd see that. Now sit down with me." She patted the couch beside her, and Tina slowly sat down. "What do _you_ like to do?"

"But that's the thing," argued Tina. "I'm not particularly good at anything."

"What are you interested in?"

"I don't know... I like photography." Tina shrugged helplessly. "Travel photography."

"You could join the photography club," said Jessica. "And the international club. And you said you were ambitious, right?" Tina nodded. "Well, ambitious people have to get good grades and be really smart. So put your time into that. Take AP classes, enroll in the honors society, take business classes at the local community college... Do _something_! Stop being so obsessed with other people, and find things to do yourself. And if you do enough things, you'll meet people - friends, boyfriends. I only met Justin because I joined the school paper. Pretty soon, you'll build up your own support system, and then you'll be happy with that."

Tina seemed a little uncertain. "I don't know... Do you think you could help me?"

"Sure." Jessica smiled. "I can be a part of your support system. Okay?"

* * *

It quickly became evident that Tina was in the midst of a life crisis. She moved in with the Kents temporarily, saying her mother had closed up shop and moved to Metropolis to expand her business and she needed somewhere to stay. Tina took to following Jessica around like a lost puppy, dressing like her and intruding on her circle of friends.

Lana, Emily, and Chloe clearly found the whole thing hilarious, but were willing enough to help a despairing Jessica in Tina's new "makeover." Jessica took things one step at a time: she helped Tina (who seemed to have an endless supply of money) garner a new and original wardrobe. Then she helped her join clubs and honors classes. Then she convinced her to start taking classes at the local community college. At the college, sure enough, Tina met a boy and they went on a date.

Meanwhile, Jessica invited Tina to several of Emily's parties in an attempt to make her feel more accepted at Smallville High.

The makeover seemed to be going rather well.

* * *

Lana came over to Jessica's house one night. She knocked on the door and when Jessica opened it, she looked harried.

"Can I come in?" she asked. Jessica stepped aside to let her through. Tina was sitting on the stairs behind Jessica.

Tina stood, looking curious. "What's up?" she asked.

Lana sighed and sat down on the stairs. "I was cleaning out my aunt's garage and I came across an old diary of my mother's. My aunt had always told me this fantasy about my mother - that she was the perfect woman and the perfect cheerleader with the perfect life. I opened that diary to find out my aunt had lied to me. My mother hated cheerleading, but was afraid to quit. She hated Smallville and didn't want to live here. And the thing that galled me most is that... in a way, her writings reminded me a lot of my own thoughts and feelings."

"I can definitely understand hating Smallville," Tina admitted. "But - the cheerleading? I thought you made so many friends through that."

"They weren't friends, Tina," said Lana. "They were the kind of people who would talk about you behind your back. True friends - like Jessica or Emily - those are harder to find."

"So, are you more upset because your aunt lied to you, or because you tried to be your mother for so long only to find out you were already like her?" Jessica asked. "Seems like a lot of wasted effort."

Lana smiled. "How do you always know? Yeah, it was just... it was such a _relief._ Knowing my Mom would have understood my feelings about things. I always thought she'd hate that I'd quit cheerleading and tried my hand at being a waitress. Now I think maybe that was what she'd always wanted to do in the first place."

"Why do you think your aunt lied to you?" Jessica asked, sitting down beside Lana.

"I wonder... was she trying to manipulate me into being the way she wanted?" Lana looked angry. "It's just frustrating. Emily and Chloe both have Dads who love them to pieces, you have great parents... and I just -"

"Whoa, hey. Let's not get too crazy here," said Jessica. "Emily's Mom is dead. Chloe doesn't know where her Mom is. My biological parents are dead, and -" She looked around, then leaned closer and whispered, "And I feel like I have to hide things from my adopted parents." She leaned back. "So nobody's life is perfect." She turned to Tina. "Right?"

"Yeah," Tina admitted wonderingly. "I guess you're right..."

"When I read her diary, it was like she was talking to me," Lana admitted. "Then it was over and she was gone."

"You're lucky you've got at least that," said Jessica.

"Because you don't know anything about your parents," Lana realized. "I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have come to you with this. It must seem like I'm whining."

"Your feelings are valid, Lana," said Jessica simply. "Don't underrate them."

* * *

The next day at school, Lana came into The Torch's editorial room where Jessica, Justin, Chloe, Pete, and Emily already were.

"Guys," she said, "I found out from my aunt that my Mom did her year's graduation speech - she was class valedictorian. It was in 1977. I decided to come here because I figured -"

"The Torch prints the graduation speech every year," said Chloe, nodding and heading for the file boxes. "That's PC - pre computer. Everything after that is going to be HC - hard copy. So let's check the files..."

Chloe looked at the newspaper and smiled. "Saturday Night Fever was their prom theme. Stix won Group of the Century, and - Wow. Someone got into the administration's collective face. 'Due to the controversial nature of this year's graduation address, the editors have elected not to run the text in this issue of The Torch.'"

"What did your Mom _do,_ Lana?" Emily asked disbelievingly.

"My aunt just said that she vented years worth of repressed anger into one speech. She let out the Inner Laura," said Lana. "She basically said that she hated Smallville, she hated high school, and she hated being a cheerleader."

"That sounds so awesome I'm sorry I won't get to read it," said Justin.

"I know. They didn't print the only speech worth reading," despaired Chloe. "I'll try tracking the speech down for you some other way, Lana. By the way, Jessica, where's Puppy Dog Tina?" This was her friends' favorite nickname for Tina, second only to Tina The Clone.

"Don't call her that," sighed Jessica. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since last night; she was gone when we got up this morning. I'm getting a little worried."

* * *

Jessica went up to her loft that night and heard a curious sort of sniffling sound. She X ray scanned the place, and found a glowing green skeleton huddled in a corner - the same glowing green as on the day of the bank robbery. She hurried over, and found Tina huddled there.

Jessica paused, frowning in concern, her eyes widening. "Tina..." she asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

Tina looked up, tears on her face. "Jessica, I think I've done something really bad," she said, breaking down.

Jessica leaned down and looked Tina close in the face. "Tina," she said calmly, "do you know anything about the robbery at Smallville Savings & Loans?"

"I... I was born with a soft bone disease," said Tina. "I was given experimental meteor rock treatments. Shortly after them, I started getting better, but I'd gained a special ability - I'd found I could change my appearance at will. I hid it for years, but - I... I decided that my mother's and my life needed to be better, so I pretended to be Lex Luthor and I robbed the bank. I brought the money back home to my mother, and she said that I had to give it back, she said that nobody's life was perfect... We got into a struggle and I, I pushed her down a flight of stairs. It was an accident! I didn't mean to do it, you've got to believe me! But... but she..." Tears welled up in Tina's eyes again.

"Tina," Jessica asked urgently, "your mother's not really in Metropolis, is she? Where is your mother?"

"Her body's in a cabinet in her antiques shop," said Tina in a trembling voice. "When she died, I... I thought maybe this was my chance. To be someone perfect. I wanted to be like _you_. But - but you were so nice to me, and then I learned your life and Lana's life... well, they weren't any better than mine was. Now I don't know what to do."

Jessica stood up and held out a hand. "Come on, Tina. We have to go tell the authorities. The first step is taking responsibility for what you've done."

Tina reached out and took Jessica's hand.

* * *

"I heard about Tina's Mom," said Lana. "Crazy, right?"

"Tina's headed to a juvenile detention facility," said Jessica. "She's going to serve time for theft and involuntary manslaughter. She said she's going to excel at the school there - she's going to try to go to college after finishing her time, fulfill some of those big ambitions of hers." She smiled a little, thinking about it.

"Okay, great," said Emily, a little forcefully. "So, _why are we here_?" They were all huddled together in Lana's aunt's truck.

"Chloe found a tape of my Mom's graduation speech," said Lana, smiling. "I thought we could listen to it over the CD player together."

So Lana turned on her Mom's speech, and they listened.


	7. New StoryNew Version of Existing Story!

If anyone's interested in the newest version of my fem Clark story, it's _Phantom Queen (1)_ by Gossamer Glass Jellyfish.


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